"uuid","repository link","title","author","contributor","publication year","abstract","subject topic","language","publication type","publisher","isbn","issn","patent","patent status","bibliographic note","access restriction","embargo date","faculty","department","research group","programme","project","coordinates"
"uuid:06177b20-7dd8-4a7f-9165-4fe18d10454c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:06177b20-7dd8-4a7f-9165-4fe18d10454c","Social Prioritization for the Energy Grid: Energy Justice Evaluation and Impact Analysis","Pavlov, Max (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Mouter, N. (graduation committee); Dobbe, R.I.J. (mentor); De Winkel, E. (graduation committee); Ranganathan, A (graduation committee); Fugers, H. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","The electricity grid in the Netherlands is highly congested and poses a significant challenge due to increasing demand and the transition to sustainable energy sources, which overwhelms the existing infrastructure. To address this issue, Distribution System Operators (DSOs) like Alliander are tasked with managing waiting lists for power connections and transport capacity requests. The traditional First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS) principle unintentionally delays transport requests that can be argued are more important to society. This motivated the policymakers to propose a prioritization framework based on societal importance. This framework prioritizes clients in categories such as congestion softeners, safety, basic needs, and sustainability, aiming to benefit society as a whole.
However, the introduction of this framework raises several implications, particularly concerning distributive justice. To systematically identify and deliberate these implications, a Design Science Research methodology was used. This methodology involved a comprehensive literature review across various research areas including Energy Justice, Waiting List Management, and Distributive Justice. Subsequently, a qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted to understand the impacts on waiting times for both priority and non-priority clients.
Stakeholder opinions were analyzed across different industries, revealing concerns and suggestions regarding the social prioritization framework. The quantitative analysis estimated the real impact on waiting lists, considering technical constraints and proposing distributive justice metrics such as time equity disparity and change in the estimated time-to-solution ratio.
The analysis of real waiting lists demonstrated mixed outcomes, with priority clients experiencing decreases in waiting times while non-priority clients faced delays. Some non-priority clients were needlessly delayed. Distributive justice metrics highlighted disproportionate burdens on non-priority clients. Moreover, the framework's impacts extended beyond delays to financial, and psychological effects.
Recommendations for future research include incorporating historical data, obtaining more client information, improving stakeholder feedback loops, and further analyzing other aspects of Energy Justice. Additionally, connecting quantitative implications to societal values could enhance understanding of the framework's benefits to society.
Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the implications of implementing a social prioritization framework for electricity grid waiting lists, highlighting the importance of considering distributive justice and societal impacts in policy development and decision-making processes.","Energy grid; Social Prioritization; Energy Justice; Distributive Justice; Waiting List; Energy Grid Congestion","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d3a29b80-b195-4acc-9d01-3de3929e03af","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d3a29b80-b195-4acc-9d01-3de3929e03af","Deepfake detection technologies: Business strategies for deepfake detection companies, within the Netherlands, to maintain or gain a competitive advantage","Peeters, Willemijn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Gartner, J. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","In today’s climate of the increasing use of fake news for which deepfakes may be used, and their widespread distribution through social media, the challenge of distinguishing reality from manipulation is growing. The development of deepfake detection technologies (DFDTs) is therefore crucial. The number of deepfake detection companies (DFDCs) is growing rapidly, changing the competitive landscape. Literature review shows that little is known about strategic opportunities for DFDCs. Therefore, the aim of this research is to provide business strategies, for DFDCs in the emerging DFDT market, in order to maintain or gain a competitive advantage. The knowledge gap lies in the fact that research is done into business strategies for emerging technologies, however, not specifically for DFDTs. To generate concrete and valuable results, the focus is on the Netherlands...","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2053ff02-2056-4307-8216-d78a29433bf7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2053ff02-2056-4307-8216-d78a29433bf7","A guide to ERP strategy selection: A design study for a decision support tool","Seepers, Nikki (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","This thesis goes into the challenging process of selecting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) strategies, highlighting the complexities involved in deciding between different approaches. The study uses a qualitative research methodology, combining literature and interviews, to gain a better understanding of ERP strategy selection. The study sheds light on the intricate dynamics of several ERP strategies, such as the Two-Tier strategy and Best of Breed solutions, and provides insights into their benefits, downsides, and implementation implications.
The study creates a decision tool using an iterative approach driven by the double diamond technique with the goal of offering a systematic framework for selecting ERP strategies. This tool incorporates essential criteria determined through a literature research and interviews, including functionality, organisational complexity, IT expertise, and business alignment. The decision tool is intended to help organisations navigate the intricacies of ERP strategy selection, allowing them to make educated decisions that are aligned with their strategic goals and operational requirements.
The study's theoretical implications add to the existing body of knowledge by clarifying the nuances of the Two-Tier ERP strategy, highlighting the complexities of ERP strategy selection, identifying key criteria and constraints, and emphasising the importance of IT-business alignment in decision-making.","ERP; Enterprise Resource Planning; Strategy; Decision making; Two-Tier ERP strategy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c575fa22-58f7-4fef-ab11-cd7308ee38d7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c575fa22-58f7-4fef-ab11-cd7308ee38d7","Responsible innovations","Majied, Mohammed (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Doorn, N. (mentor); Wiarda, M.J. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","Responsible innovation considers the impact of a new process/product on society and the environment. It mainly refers to collaboration and communication between parties to obtain an ethically acceptable, sustainable, and socially desirable innovation. This study focuses on the factors influencing the implementing the RI framework, which consists of Anticipation, Inclusion, Reflexivity, and Responsiveness within start-ups.
The following research question has been investigated: ‘’Which factors affect the implementation of Responsible Innovation dimensions in start-ups.’’","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:8506b6f6-0872-4b7a-887b-66219a3257c4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8506b6f6-0872-4b7a-887b-66219a3257c4","Automating the Insurance Sector - Assessing Technology Acceptance of Emerging Technology","Kerckhoff, Fin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchain, and the internet of things offer interesting opportunities to automate business processes. With the potential to streamline operations like claims management, underwriting, and customer service, these advancements appear to be especially promising for insurance companies. Nevertheless, digital transformation does not come without its barriers, such as IT-system legacies, regulatory demands, and business issues. One challenge for digital transformation is the rejection of innovations. Insurers, therefore, need their internal stakeholders to accept and adapt to technological change.
This study investigates this barrier to a successful digital transformation of the insurance industry. Following a literature review on innovations in this realm and technology acceptance, this thesis aims to identify factors influencing the behavioral intention to use technologies within this context....","business process automation; technology acceptance; Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology; Insurance; Emerging technologies","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:27ee4f59-1bbc-4274-9912-debb01310d26","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:27ee4f59-1bbc-4274-9912-debb01310d26","Influence of Business Model Innovation and Competitive Strategies on the Performance of Dutch High-Tech Startups","Sancheti, Avi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Khodaei, H. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","This master's thesis examines the effects of business model innovation and competitive strategies on the success of high-tech startups in the Netherlands. Understanding how high-tech startups can improve their performance and compete successfully is of utmost relevance given the increasing importance of technology entrepreneurship and the emergence of high-tech startups. High-tech businesses frequently fail within the first 18 months despite their promise; thus, it is necessary to identify techniques that encourage their expansion and success. Considering its significance in Europe and its ability to promote international entrepreneurship, this study concentrates on the Dutch high-tech startup ecosystem. By examining the interaction between business models, competitive strategies, and startup performance, the study seeks to fill a gap in the body of existing literature. The central research question, ""What is the influence of competitive strategies and business model innovation on the performance of high-tech start-ups in the Netherlands?"" serves as the focus of this study.
The study employs a quantitative research approach to gather insights from high-tech businesses established between 2017 and 2020. Data is meticulously collected from high-tech startups in the Netherlands, utilizing a meticulously crafted survey questionnaire. This comprehensive analysis aims to unravel the intricate dynamics between business model innovation and competitive strategies, shedding light on pivotal performance variables such as number of employees and revenue, pivotal indicators of startup growth. Through rigorous statistical analysis performed on a sample of 49 high-tech startups, the study unveils a noteworthy positive correlation between the interaction of business model novelty and cost-leadership strategy with enhanced startup performance, particularly in terms of full-time employees. However, other direct and interactional relationships failed to yield significance concerning the performance variables. Consequently, the study delves into discerning the prevalent business models and preferred competitive strategies within the Dutch high-tech startup ecosystem. Further, despite the significant insights garnered, this research acknowledges certain limitations, including sample size constraints, sampling methodology, and primarily the questions in the survey questionnaire design, which may have influenced the outcomes of the research study.
The results of this study have ramifications for practitioners as well as scholars. By providing insights into the intricate interactions between business models, competitive strategies, and startup performance, it adds to the body of academic literature on strategic management and entrepreneurship. The research also provides important insights from high-tech startups on their decision-making to enhance their performance with developing market trends. The research helps business owners make informed decisions that promote growth, profitability, and market competitiveness by identifying effective combinations of business models and strategies. Delving into these dynamics, this research not only enriches the academic understanding of entrepreneurship but also provides valuable insights with practical implications. Through its rigorous analysis and findings, this thesis aims to equip high-tech startups with the knowledge and strategies needed to succeed in today's dynamic world. In conclusion, this master's thesis provides a thorough examination of the complex linkages between business model innovation, competitive strategies, and the performance outcomes of Dutch high-tech startups.","Business Model Innovation; Competitive Strategy; High-Tech Startups; Firm Performance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2024-12-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:fd233065-a854-4477-8009-497282dff5b4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:fd233065-a854-4477-8009-497282dff5b4","From Scroll to Soul: Design Features of Social Media Platforms and Their Impact on Users' Mental Well-Being","Jaff, Mani (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, Mark (mentor); Marin, L. (graduation committee); Figueroa, C.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","The prevalence of mental health issues among adolescents and young adults is increasing, with social media usage identified as a potential contributing factor. As technology becomes more integral to daily life, the design decisions of social media platforms emerge as significant determinants of users' mental well-being.
Despite awareness of social media's general adverse effects, there is a gap in understanding the specific impact of different design features. Academic literature identifies features like likes and direct messaging as having nuanced effects on mental well-being, but lacks a comprehensive overview for developers to reference. This thesis seeks to bridge this gap, focusing on design features and their psychological impacts to propose design interventions for enhancing mental well-being.
Employing Value Sensitive Design (VSD) as an analytical framework, this study is the first to apply VSD to social media in the context of mental well-being. It involves a tripartite methodology — conceptual, empirical, and technical investigations — to identify significant design features and values related to mental well-being on social media platforms. A novel social media platform, Dime, designed with mental well-being in mind, serves as a case study for evaluating these features and proposing design requirements.
The study identifies 8 key design features affecting mental well-being and outlines 13 values divided into higher and lower levels, facilitating focus on critical values for desired outcomes. It explores value interrelationships and conflicts, particularly noting indirect tensions between values like authenticity and connection, and between personalization, control, and autonomy.
Proposed design interventions aim to resolve identified value conflicts, enhancing authenticity to support connection and enhancing personalization and control to support autonomy.","Social media; Mental well-being; Value Sensitive Design","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a5e2194b-ddd5-49d0-a7ca-66ecf75af95c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a5e2194b-ddd5-49d0-a7ca-66ecf75af95c","Identification and prioritization of factors and their influence on corporate venturing success: The analysis of influential factors affecting the success of the corporate ventures using the Best-Worst methodology and their prioritization assessment","Gopalakrishnan, Aditya (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Wagner, Ben (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","Corporate venturing practices have been one of the most successful practices in terms of shared innovation or leveraging outside talent to further one’s competitive edge in the rapidly growing and evolving industry of technology. Since, technology has been one of the main driving factors in providing solutions for achievement of short term and long term goals in the space, organizations are interested in finding out potential research findings and data that will enable them to maximize their probabilities of success for the particular venture. Streamlining such points of interest will improve the innovative capabilities of all participating organizations. A repository of literature was combed for identification of key factors that influence success in ventures. For this research BWM methodology has been employed to assess the importance therefore the prioritization of these factors and their impact through a set of curated list of respondents from the industry.","Best-Worst Method; Corporate Venturing; innovation; Extrinsic influencing factors; Intrinsic influencing factors; Open Innovation; Partnerships; Alliances; Port XL; Port Industry; Organizational sustainability goals; Prioritization; Organizational Structures","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9a83dbff-2341-4b4b-984d-c86ed719f61c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9a83dbff-2341-4b4b-984d-c86ed719f61c","Een brug naar circulariteit: Een onderzoek naar de implementatie van kaders voor circulair asset management van verkeersbruggen","Pishahang, Pedram (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Bruijne, M.L.C. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","","bridge; Circular economy; Asset Management; Sustainability; Infrastructure","nl","bachelor thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0f3ee483-5b7f-489d-acbf-174f5490b6fe","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0f3ee483-5b7f-489d-acbf-174f5490b6fe","Cultural Intelligence as a Skill Taught in an Entrepreneurial Education setting: Proposal for improvements of a cultural intelligence learning programme as part of the Minor in International Entrepreneurship and Development at TU Delft","van Marion, Francesca (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Andel, E. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Sand, M. (graduation committee); Wakeling, G.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","This thesis examines the integration of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) in entrepreneurial education, specifically in the Minor in International Entrepreneurship and Development program at TU Delft. It identifies a significant gap in the current curriculum regarding CQ training, crucial for navigating the culturally diverse landscape of global business. Through an analysis of existing frameworks, interviews with students and professionals, and curriculum evaluation, the thesis highlights the shortcomings in preparing students for international entrepreneurship. It proposes curriculum enhancements focusing on experiential learning and reflection to foster cultural understanding and adaptability. These recommendations aim to equip students with the necessary skills to succeed in a multicultural entrepreneurial environment, making the program more comprehensive and globally relevant.","Cultural Intelligence; Entrepreneurial Education; International Entrepreneurship; Cultural values; Cultural Barriers; Curriculum Development; Experiential learning; EntreComp; Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS); Reflective learning practices; Entrepreneurship","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b6abe1b5-4fab-44a2-9268-1e6f6606ae05","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b6abe1b5-4fab-44a2-9268-1e6f6606ae05","Exploring the Criticality of TARGET2: A Socio-Technical Analysis of Its Role in the Economic Security of the Netherlands","Arora, Anurag (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (mentor); van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M. (graduation committee); Penna, C.C.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:db7eb153-ea89-4fdb-af00-36a68c668e6b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:db7eb153-ea89-4fdb-af00-36a68c668e6b","The future of waste collection in Amsterdam: Exploring the trade-offs between different water-based waste collection systems in the canal area of Amsterdam","van Baars, Chiel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Doorn, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","Heavy traffic in the city of Amsterdam has damaged the 17th-century bridges and quays over the past years. To prevent further damage and expand the lifespan of both existing and renovated structures, a maximum axle load of 7,5 tonnes is mandated in the city centre. Currently, the municipal waste collection department has a permanent exemption from this regulation due to the absence of an alternative method to collect the city's waste.
One promising solution involves re-utilising the city's waterways and employing vessels to transport waste out of the city. Two pilots involving water-based waste transport have been conducted in the city and were found to be a working proof of concept. It is, however, not known what a water-based collection system for the whole centre should look like to service the city and preserve the quays and bridges. This thesis aims to assess the trade-offs between three conceptual water-based waste collection systems (WCSs) to guide the direction for designing a suitable WCS for the city.
The three concepts examined concepts differ in the scale of the transshipment locations (the point where waste is transferred from land to water), categorised as WCSs with small- medium- and large-scale transshipment locations. The study focuses on the trade-offs between WCSs within and between the domains of social acceptance and technical feasibility.
This thesis consists of two main parts, in the first part the three water-based conceptual WCSs were defined using a design workshop. During the workshop, six employees of the municipality used different exercises to generate ideas on how waste could be collected using the waterways and to turn these ideas into conceptual designs.
In the second part of this thesis, these three conceptual WCSs were studied using a case study. The units of analysis in each of the WCSs were the social acceptance and the technical feasibility.
To evaluate the technical feasibility of each of the WCSs, expert interviews with specialists in vessels, waterways, quay walls and assets were conducted. The social acceptance of the three WCSs was studied using a survey administered to potential users of these systems. They were asked to choose between various WCSs based on walking distance, their general preferences, their preferences in specific situations and their concerns regarding these systems. Parallel to the survey, potential user interviews were conducted to gain deeper insights into respondents' reasons for preferences or aversions to specific WCSs.
The results from the expert interviews were summarised and presented in a table to provide an overview of the feasibility of the three WCSs. Survey results were depicted through graphs illustrating respondents' choices, while potential user interviews were analysed thematically, supported by quotes from the interviews.
WCS with large- and medium-scale transshipment locations were both found to be potentially feasible from a technical perspective, whereas the small-scale option was deemed unlikely to be feasible. The survey indicated that the majority of the respondents had a preference for self-disposal in containers close to their homes as opposed to having their waste collected at a self-scheduled time, requiring them to be present at home to hand over the waste to the pickup service. Additionally, respondents preferred disposal facilities not too close to their homes or within their direct line of sight.
Insights from potential user interviews revealed that participants favouring self-disposal valued flexibility, while on the other hand, those preferring self-scheduled pick-up appointments believed this WCS would address the litter issue in the city.
In conclusion, a key trade-off identified was between providing residents with their most preferred waste disposal method through numerous disposal locations versus the technical challenges, if not impossibility, of realizing such a large number of locations.
Based on this, the municipality was recommended to conduct further research on WCSs with large- and medium-scale transshipment locations, alongside implementing pilot projects to test these systems in a real-world setting.","Waste collection; Amsterdam; Trade-offs","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","52.377956, 4.897070"
"uuid:17ea2749-781f-4a1e-9525-9632c95517ba","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:17ea2749-781f-4a1e-9525-9632c95517ba","Niche strategy elucidation for hyperpersonalization in the Dutch online automotive market","Noorlander, Winnifred (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Boru, A. (graduation committee); van den Boer, Paula (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","","Niche strategy; Automotive; Innovation Management","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2026-01-30","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:57fe3082-7584-463e-99d7-e98e2b334d25","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:57fe3082-7584-463e-99d7-e98e2b334d25","Data Governance Challenges at Dutch Financial Services Firms","Koeleman, Friso (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Smit, A.C. (mentor); Zuiderwijk, AMG (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2024","In 2006 already, Clive Humby said: “Data is the New Oil!” and like oil, data needs “infrastructure” to be gathered, analyzed and used. This infrastructure is called data governance and it is essential in today’s data-driven era to ensure availability, quality and security of an organization’s data. This is especially true for financial services firms, which deal with massive amounts of highly-sensitive personal data, such as names, dates of birth and bank details, and operate in a highly regulated environment. Therefore, it is essential that any new data governance policies, such as a transition to a cloud-based data governance policy, are implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible. Research thus far has primarily focused on the importance of data governance and developing data governance models. However, the implementation of data governance proves to be not without its barriers. Some research has been done into what barriers organizations encounter when attempting to implement new data governance policies, but strategies to deal with these barriers have not been found in existing literature. Therefore, this research seeks to answer the question:
“How do managers at financial services firms in the Netherlands deal with the barriers to successfully implement new data governance?”
This thesis used a literature study, twelve individual interviews with PwC employees who were heavily involved in data governance implementation processes at financial services firms in the Netherlands and a focus group interview with experts from PwC to determine what barriers financial services firms face when they are implementing new data governance, which strategies they use to deal with these barriers and what key factors influence the decision-making in this implementation process. These three elements were then used to find the answer to how managers at financial services firms in the Netherlands successfully implement new data governance.
The research attempts to close the gap in the literature surrounding the general strategies that are used to navigate the barriers that inhibit (new) data governance implementation. Furthermore, it can help further identify which barriers (financial services) firms face when attempting to implement new data governance and aid in the development of more effective data governance framework. Additionally, the improved understanding of how financial services firms navigate the barriers that inhibit data governance implementation can help maintain trust in financial services firms and the financial system as a whole and it can aid in the development of more effective regulatory frameworks to increase how fast financial services firms are able to comply to them.
The barriers financial firms face to implementing data governance that were found in this thesis were sorted into four broad categories: “Organizational culture/structure”, ”Senior management priority”, ”IT performance” and ”Lack of information”. Examples of these barriers are: a “restrictive mindset”, “unfocused strategy”, “incompatible IT systems” or a “lack of information on technoliii
ogy”. The strategies the firms used to deal with these barriers were also sorted into four different categories: “Senior management vision/championing”, “Technological tools/skills”, “Stakeholder involvement/consensus” and the “Business case” strategy. Examples of these strategies are: “developing a global vision”, “standardization of technology”, “stakeholder involvement” and “building a broad business case”. A complete overview of the barriers and their corresponding strategies that were found in this thesis can be found in figure 4.1...
By performing interviews with guideline developers, doctors, and patients, this tension and possible contributing factors were explored through a technical, human, and organisational perspective. The identification of a need for the inclusion of the psychosocial elements, research regarding sensitivity around professional autonomy, and structural changes is beneficial to get to a point where it is possible to identify a balance between guideline standardisation and professional autonomy and its impact on the safety and quality of care. While multiple points for further research are indicated in this study, these three factors contribute to improving the situation of both the tension itself and the discussions around it.
Conducted as a case study at Allseas, the research employs the Best Worst Method (BWM) to rank risks, identifying the uniqueness of the product, rules and regulations, and external factors as significant concerns. Through graphical representations and ISM-based supplier segmentation, relationships between supplier willingness, capabilities, risks and profit impact are established. The findings stress the importance of communication and trust in supplier relationship management (SRM) trade-offs, including inventory reliance, contract durations, sourcing strategies, and addressing non-performing suppliers.
The research provides insights for maritime managers, recommending the integration of theoretical SRM approaches with multi-criteria decision-making methods for resilient supply chains. The suggested shift from lean to agile management and the ISM implementation offers practical strategies to optimize relationships, navigate complexities, and establish adaptive procurement approaches, effectively mitigating supply chain risks.","Supply Chain Management; Risk mitigation; Supply chain resilience; Supplier Relationship Management; Multi-criteria decision-making; Best Worst Method; Maritime Industry","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2024-12-28","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f06594d4-8eea-4a26-8a65-e51d20e7c4de","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f06594d4-8eea-4a26-8a65-e51d20e7c4de","Understanding stakeholders’ perspectives on the intangible and tangible impacts of public projects","Lagsir, Mourad (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Smit, A.C. (mentor); Reniers, G.L.L.M.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Public projects play a crucial role in societal development yet managing them effectively requires a nuanced understanding of the expectations and concerns of different stakeholders. This paper explores the complex landscape of public projects, with a particular focus on understanding the diverse perspectives of various stakeholder groups and their perceptions of the tangible and intangible impacts of these initiatives. The existing literature has provided valuable insights into specific stakeholder perspectives and regional nuances, but it remains fragmented, leading to a piecemeal understanding of the broader landscape. Addressing this gap, the research introduces a structured model that combines the RACI model for stakeholder identification and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach for categorizing impact factors. This model aims to bring clarity and consistency to the assessment of stakeholder priorities in public projects. The research question guiding this study is: How do distinct stakeholder groups perceive the intangible and tangible impacts of public projects? To assess the validity of the proposed model, we explored the practical application within the context of smart street lighting projects. utilizing semi-structured interviews with 16 stakeholders across the four RACI categories. The findings reveal shared concerns across stakeholder groups, particularly regarding privacy and security issues associated with smart lighting. However, notable differences also emerged, such as manufacturers’ willingness to compromise social responsibility for economic gains and citizens’ feelings of exclusion from decision-making processes. Based on these findings, several suggestions were made: 1) Establish a regular dialogue mechanism with stakeholders, ensuring that each group, especially citizens, is included in the decision-making process; 2) Address privacy and security concerns by incorporating robust data protection and cybersecurity measures into the smart street lighting systems; 3) Encourage manufacturers and other profit-driven stakeholders to align more closely with social and environmental responsibilities; 4) Use the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach to regularly measure and (publicly) report the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the smart street lighting project to maintain transparency. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a nuanced understanding of stakeholder perspectives in public projects, offering a structured model for future studies, and paving the way for more informed and inclusive decision-making processes. The limitations of the study, primarily related to its regional focus and potential biases in participant selection, are acknowledged, underscoring the need for further research to validate and refine the proposed model.","project management; stakeholder engagement; Impact assessment methodology","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:64f8bf84-750f-4214-90ae-b7096057d707","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:64f8bf84-750f-4214-90ae-b7096057d707","Uncontrolled Degassing of Ships: An Agent-Based Approach","Dam, Friso (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van der Voort, H.G. (mentor); Warnier, Martijn (graduation committee); Wassenburg, S. I. (mentor); Merkx, P.P.A.B (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The concept of deterrence, using fear of punishment to encourage compliant behavior, is widely discussed. However, deterrence often places an emphasis on the economic side of compliance while neglecting other possibly crucial factors, as is argued by the literature. Psychological factors, notably the personal norm and the social norm, often appear to play important roles in the decision to comply or not. The personal norm describes an individual’s attitude and moral stance toward specific behaviors, such as compliance. On the other hand, the social norm revolves around perceptions of others’
behavior and opinions within one’s social network. Hence, the influence of these factors is researched within different populations, and different environments, some enabling and some impeding compliance. A new framework to encompass all these elements is explored with Agent-Based Modeling and applied to a case study in collaboration with the ILT (Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport). Findings included the lack of a social influence on compliance, whenever the personal norm was high and the necessity to be able to comply in order for deterrence to show an effect. For future research, suggestions are done to improve the framework and to explore additional aspects.","Agent-based Modeling; Compliance; Deterrence; Theory of Planned Behavior; Rational Choice Theory","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e17223ef-8636-4e80-b0fb-fdccbf35f59d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e17223ef-8636-4e80-b0fb-fdccbf35f59d","Mapping social context of sustainable attitudes using stakeholder analysis with discourse analysis: Investigating the maritime sector in order to provide knowledge about future technological pathways","de Vree, A.M.W. (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Values Technology and Innovation; TU Delft Ethics & Philosophy of Technology)","Asveld, L. (mentor); Smit, A.C. (graduation committee); van der Veen, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Maritime sectors have been notorious for their slow paced innovation efforts and although it is an efficient sector, it has big impact on the environment just because of the size of the industry (M. Rahim, et al. 2016). There is a lot of activity on the seas, changes in this sector could make a big difference when making our world become more sustainable. However, the sustainable field is a field that is faced with wicked problems. There are always many stakeholders involved and their interests and expectations on these matters can vary wildly. Conversations are important to bring alignment and understanding across stakeholders (Whitemore, 2013). These conversations involve the political and social sciences to investigate. A list of stakeholders was drafted and they were assessed on the grounds of their discourses. A discourse is “a way of shared, structured ways of speaking, thinking, interpreting and representing things in the world.” (Guardado, 2018, p 72) The following RQ was formulated: How can different stakeholders regarding the sustainable transition of the maritime industry be assessed using the discourses of Dryzek?
With a basis of Q-methodology, a list of statements was created that, based on Dryzek’s discourse theory, is then used to judge the respondents on their environmental beliefs. Also the sustainability reports of selected companies where investigated. It was possible to identify the main themes that could count on agreement/disagreement and controversy. Nature and the existence of limits to our activities where rated highly, while the way to solve it remained controversial. People are more imaginative than their company’s current policies indicate. People see the limitations to the systems that surround them. The willingness of the employees is there, or there is a lack between the strategy of the board and the values of the employees. Further action is required to bridge the gap.
It is indeed possible to asses different stakeholders and firms on their discourses and the research shows two methods to do it. The set up of the interview and the statements proved to be able to provide information about the environmentalism of the stakeholder. This information gives an insight into the social context of environmentalism and brought forward interesting observations about the willingness of the employees and the stance of the companies. The reports indicate a gap between what is needed (and wanted) and what is currently being done. The companies should be more radical and imaginative in both their vision and their solutions, instead of focussing on the solutions alone. Vision is often omitted from the reports, an important oversight.
Overarching vision and motivation can be uncovered but the specific points of departure for technological advancement remain hidden. The thesis brings a contribution to investigations on stakeholder alignment in the clean shipping sector and uncovers some important issues. The firms specific operating context remains to be investigated with more detail, as to properly find the barriers that hold back solving wicked problems. However a good effort is made to indicate the grounds for disputes from the actors.
The AI audit is an emerging subdomain of the Information Technology (IT) audit, a standardized practice carried out by accountants. Contrary to the IT audit, there are currently no AI-specific defined rules and regulations to adhere to. At the same time, some organizations are already seeking external assurance from accountancy firms on their AI systems. AI auditors have indicated that this has lead to challenges in their current audit approach, mainly due to a lack of structure. Therefore, this thesis proposes an AI audit workflow comprised of a general AI auditing framework combined with a structured scoping approach.
Interviews with AI auditors at one accountancy firm in the Netherlands revealed that the demand for AI audits is increasing and expected to keep growing. Clients mainly seek assurance for management of stakeholders and reputation. Furthermore, the challenges the auditors currently experience stem from having to aggregate auditing questions from a range of auditing frameworks, causing issues in their recombination and in determining question relevancy. Subsequently, design criteria for a general auditing framework as well as feedback on a proposed scoping approach were obtained.
Fourteen AI auditing frameworks were identified through a literature search. Following their typology, these could be subdivided into three source categories: academic, industry, and auditing/regulatory. Academic frameworks typically focused on specific aspects of trustworthy AI, while industry frameworks emphasized the need for public trust to drive AI progress. Frameworks developed by auditing and regulatory organizations tended to be most extensive.
Comparison to four common IT audit frameworks and standards showed that AI audit frameworks need to cover a broader range of topics than the traditional IT audit themes. This is a result of the complex socio-technological context involving multiple stakeholders in which AI systems operate. Additionally, it was shown that AI performance monitoring dashboards could cover technical parts of the audit, but that they fall short when it comes to context-dependent topics such as human oversight or societal well-being.
Following analysis of the similarities between the corporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting materiality assessment and the AI audit scoping problem, an ESG materiality assessment approach was translated to a scoping approach for the AI audit. In this translation, feedback from the AI auditors was incorporated. Combined with a general auditing framework, which was built through combination of the fourteen identified frameworks along the obtained design criteria, this formed the basis for the proposed AI audit workflow. The proposed workflow was demonstrated to be executable through a mock case study. Investigation from the data subject perspective for the Public Eye crowd monitoring AI system of the Municipality of Amsterdam resulted in a scoped list of auditing questions relating to privacy, transparency and fairness.
Recommendations for future AI audit workflow designs include exploring the option of incorporating subthemes in the general framework, closer co-development with AI auditors, obtaining insights from auditors at multiple accountancy firms, and automating parts of the audit.","Artifical Intelligence; Auditing; Trustworthy AI","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c12d7822-2597-4ea9-9d6e-fa253eb46e8a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c12d7822-2597-4ea9-9d6e-fa253eb46e8a","Enhancing the Cybersecurity and Privacy of Medical Wearables: A User-Centred Approach","Spanninga, Paulien (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Engineering, Systems and Services)","Zuiderwijk, AMG (mentor); Hinrichs-Krapels, S. (graduation committee); Figueroa, C.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","In recent years, the medical world has seen rapid digitalisation. Digitalisation of healthcare and the opportunities of remote monitoring can help to keep the healthcare system affordable and accessible. A promising application of remote monitoring is the use of consumer-grade wearables for clinical care. However, vulnerabilities leave consumer-grade wearables susceptible to cybersecurity and privacy risks. When the wearables gain clinical care functionality, increased risks are problematic for the success of the technology. This research examined this problem by analysing the role of users in the cybersecurity and privacy environment and the impact of human factors on the cybersecurity and privacy system of medical wearables. Vulnerabilities and associated risks were identified with the help of notions from human-centric cybersecurity. To establish a user-centred approach to tackle these risks, the user needs and limitations were examined by performing a quantitative survey research. Based on the results of the survey and the human-centric components of user, usage, and usability, guidelines for the user-centred approach were formulated. These guidelines were subsequently linked with the challenges and attacker-oriented and user-oriented risks to establish recommendations for medical wearable providers. Providers can use these to steer the design of the cybersecurity and privacy system and the structuring of the system environment. The research showed that by taking into account the needs and limitations of users, the cybersecurity and privacy system design can be more effective in tackling user-oriented risks. The research concludes that a user-centred approach to cybersecurity and privacy can contribute to the successful use of consumer-grade wearables for clinical care purposes.","Cybersecurity; Human Factors; User-centered; Wearables; Healthcare; Privacy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2026-01-01","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4e9579ad-9597-4fc0-a1f9-676245f08fdc","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4e9579ad-9597-4fc0-a1f9-676245f08fdc","The influence of renewable energy generation on electricity price fluctuations, a case study of The Netherlands","van As, Vincent (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Schröder, E. (mentor); Lukszo, Z. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The research conducts an analysis of the Dutch day-ahead electricity market prices spanning from 2015 to 2022, examining the relationship between increasing RE penetration and day-ahead electricity price fluctuations. The electricity price fluctuations over this time period are reviewed for patterns and recalculated for inflation corrections that contribute to a surge in electricity prices post-August 2021.
This price volatility is further researched by three energy market phenomena. A part of these price fluctuations can be explained by the presence of the Duck Curve phenomenon in the Dutch market, highlighting challenges associated with limited RE production time and energy demand. The Duck Curve, which illustrates the net load over a 24-hour period, reveals a decrease in fossil energy production during daylight hours and a peak in production during the night. When compared to California, this Dutch Duck Curve is more stable with the incorporation of wind energy, signifying a more reliable and consistent energy supply throughout the day.
Moreover, the study delves into another energy market phenomenon called the merit order effect, where the increased penetration of RE with low marginal cost leads to declining day-ahead electricity prices. The phenomenon is researched through the implementation of an OLS regression analysis. By plotting the results in individual months and years the merit order effect is visualized. The results are showcasing increased volatility, particularly in the latter part of the analyzed period (2020-2022). Fluctuations resembling a Duck Curve are observed, emphasizing the impact of RE implementation on price decline during periods of abundant RE supply.
Additionally, the cannibalization effect phenomenon is addressed where the growing penetration of RE undermines their own economic value. The Unit Revenue and Value Factor are calculated to aid the analysis. Followed up by the Prais-Winsten method to quantify this cannibalization effect. The results are revealing negative correlations between solar and wind shares and Unit Revenue and electricity prices. Thus, as RE penetration increases, electricity prices decrease, underscoring the cannibalization effect's influence on price fluctuations.
In conclusion, this study offers insights into the dynamic transformation of the Dutch electricity market. The identification of key phenomena such as the Duck Curve, the merit order effect, and the cannibalization effect provides empirical evidence of the market's evolution. These findings underscore the critical need for strategic management, targeted interventions, and innovative solutions. It is imperative to navigate these changes effectively to facilitate the ongoing expansion of renewable energy technologies while upholding the stability and competitiveness of the electricity market.","Electricity Market; Merit order effect; Cannibalization Effect; Duck Curve; Energy Prices","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:15f69fa3-d15f-4dda-ab21-c8656fd6aae0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:15f69fa3-d15f-4dda-ab21-c8656fd6aae0","Exploring the Developer Drive: A Case Study on the Motivation of Individual Developers in Diverse Actors to Start and Continue Participation in a PaaS SECO Through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory","Verver, Caspar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, Mark (mentor); Kortmann, Rens (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This thesis explores the motivation of developers to initiate and sustain participation in a Platform-as-a-Service Software Ecosystem (PaaS SECO). PaaS, integral to SECOs, is gaining prominence for its cost advantages and scalability. The study focuses on understanding what drives developers in diverse roles to engage with PaaS SECOs and examines potential differences in motivation among developer groups.
The research adopts an exploratory case study approach, with the Mendix SECO, a low-code PaaS for enterprise application development, as the subject. Semi-structured interviews with developers from Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), service providers, and customers inform the study. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is applied to structure and comprehend developers' motivators, considering intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.
The findings underscore the significance of intrinsic motivators, such as enjoyment, intellectual stimulation, and skill enhancement, in attracting developers to PaaS SECOs. Competence-related factors, like challenge and creativity, play a pivotal role. Extrinsic motivators, like knowledge exchange and community size, also contribute to initial participation, with SECO support being crucial.
In continued participation, intrinsic motivators remain vital, with skill maturation and the evolving nature of fun being emphasized. Learning new skills aligns with staying abreast of platform innovations, sometimes driven by external pressures. Developers become more aware of the SECO's offerings, with social events acting as supplementary motivators for connection and inspiration.
Extrinsic motivators, particularly in autonomous form, gain importance in sustained participation. Developers align with the platform's strategic direction, emphasizing satisfaction with the SECO and its innovative efforts. PaaS providers' reputation and engagement in social events further enhance developers' motivation.
The study reveals overarching similarities and differences between low-code and other SECO types, questioning assumptions about developer motivations. The dominance of intrinsic motivators aligns with previous research in proprietary SECOs, but nuances, such as the desire for fast and agile development, emerge as unique to PaaS SECOs.
Theoretical contributions include enriching understanding of developer motivation in PaaS SECOs, reevaluating the intrinsic-extrinsic binary scale, and offering insights into nuanced motivators through SDT. Practical implications suggest strategies for PaaS providers, emphasizing the importance of competence-related motivators and the ongoing need for intrinsic satisfaction.
In conclusion, this thesis contributes to both theoretical and practical aspects of developer motivation in PaaS SECOs, paving the way for future research and strategies to attract and retain developers in evolving software ecosystems.","PaaS; Software Ecosystem; Developer Motivation; SECO actor; self-determination theory","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:34c24bce-7914-40e8-833f-0b599f971c6e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:34c24bce-7914-40e8-833f-0b599f971c6e","The development of carbon capture and utilisation in the Netherlands","Kuipers, Thorsten (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Quist, J.N. (mentor); Hoppe, T. (graduation committee); Virla, L.D. (graduation committee); Boerema, M. (graduation committee); Pieper, J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The depletion of finite fossil fuel resources, such as coal, oil, and gas, has become a global concern with significant energy security and sustainability implications. Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) converts CO2 into valuable materials such as chemicals, polymers, and building materials and many other applications and offers a promising solution to reduce carbon emissions while creating valuable products and enhancing energy system flexibility. In contrast to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), CCU enables cost-effective carbon-dioxide removal and the production of carbon-based products. The Netherlands has set ambitious emission reduction targets in line with the Climate Agreement until 2050, focusing on five industrial clusters that can benefit from shared CO2 resources. These clusters collaborate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is critical in developing the CCU value chain. However, achieving cost-effective CCU implementation by 2050 requires substantial infrastructure and technological investment, including transportation considerations, aligning with broader CCS development efforts.
The problem is approaching the CCU development with a variety of utilisation cases and several beginning points in mind, that differ depending on the cluster and where multiple conditions for change exist. CCU implementation is complicated, and studies are scarce on how CCU implementation should be addressed, therefore it is unknown how the development of CCU in the Netherlands comes about. Therefore more study is on the CCU transition how this develops and under what conditions CCU could be implemented in the Netherlands. This resulted in the following research question:
”What are the carbon capture and utilisation niches in the Netherlands, and how to facilitate them?”
Strategic Niche Management (SNM) with supplementary insights from the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and Innovation systems (IS) are used in this qualitative study to analyse niche development. As a result, this thesis constructs an integrated analytical framework using the schematic MLP diagram in conjunction with IS as a foundation to analyse the inter dynamics between the landscape, the regime, and the niche. The SNM framework is employed at the niche level to give a detailed examination of niche development. The research methodology is qualitative and comprises a combination of literature review and 14 semi-structured interviews with diverse stakeholders in the Netherlands. The data collected is subsequently subjected to thematic analysis.
The historical development of CCU has seen progress from the initial ideas in the 1990s to the establishment of significant initiatives and platforms in the 2010s and beyond. The focus has been improving CO2 utilization, reducing emissions, and creating economic and social benefits. Initiatives on implementing full CCU value chains between industrial clusters failed due to a lack of interest in development by the clusters and decreasing financial resources. The sector continued to evolve, with new partnerships and initiatives in the Netherlands in 2023, indicating a commitment to carbon utilization for sustainable and environmental purposes. Nonetheless, the sector is gaining traction in the development of technology due to new initiatives...
Public-private partnerships (PPP) that focus on innovation are excellent methods to improve the innovative capabilities of both partners, however, within the complex dynamics of this cooperation, literature and management would benefit from an analysis of barriers, success factors, and strategies employed within the PPP. This research can be used as a springboard for further research by analyzing a novel research setting: Defense Ministries and Defense Industries. This novelty was compounded by taking a qualitative, explorative approach. A focus on experimental development was taken to limit the large amount of innovative activity present in the sector. Focus was kept on the effects on individual projects, as opposed to innovation systems or networks. This leads to the following research question:
What are the barriers and success factors in public-private partnerships that focus on experimental development, and how do the participants cope with the barriers, and utilize the success factors?
From the literature a theoretical framework was set up based on four categories of factors influencing the innovation process. The categories are organizational, contextual, interaction-specific, and innovation-characteristic. Literature suggested that interaction-specific barriers were the main source of barriers. The main strategies in literature revolve around interaction-specific solutions to these interaction-specific barriers. A contextual model was set up.
Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Dutch Defense industry provided a novel research setting with hard-to-define innovation goals. Individuals from both sides of the PPP with practical experience in PPPs that focus on experimental development were interviewed. Within the Dutch MoD these were innovation coordinators within sub-organizations and within the Defense Industry these were leaders of small to medium-sized companies. The data was gathered through 13 interviews, of which 11 were used as sources of data. The data was first deductively coded through the four categories and then inductively coded based using the terminology of the interviewees.
This coding strategy led to three organizational factors: ‘process rules’, ‘culture, vision & implementation’ and ‘scale-up’, five contextual factors: ‘procurement: general’ ‘procurement: prior knowledge’, ‘procurement: perception’, ‘privacy’ and ‘technology-related’, one innovation-characteristic factor: ‘uncertainty’ and three interaction-specific factors: ‘contact with end-user’, ‘shared understanding’ and ‘expectation management’. The factors were described as ‘barrier’, ‘success factor’, ‘strategy’, and ‘not a barrier’. Organizational and contextual factors were the main factors influencing the success of the innovation process. ‘Process rules’ was named the most influencing factor for the innovation process. ‘Procurement law’ was the most prominent contextual factor. Innovation-characteristic factors were often considered to not be relevant to the cooperative innovation process. Lastly, the interaction-specific factors were occasionally cited as a barrier and often named as a success factor, specifically ‘contact with end-user’. Interaction was key to most strategies employed to overcome barriers.
In conclusion, this study has provided a unique insight into a collaborative phenomenon in a scarcely researched setting. The findings can be used in comparison with other research on PPPs with innovative goals, especially those that have taken place in the Netherlands. Compared to literature, the appearance of interaction-specific strategies is not unique, but in their broad application to overcome a plethora of barriers is. Further research focusing on communication dynamics within PPPs is recommended to enhance collaborative efforts and drive impactful innovations in the Defense sector. In a practical sense, reviewing process and contextual rules and reviewing the accessibility of the PPP to newcomers in the sector would enhance innovation programs, fostering effective collaboration between public and private entities.","Public-private partnerships; innovation; Experimental Development; Barrier; Strategy; Defence","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:53ab2375-3e6a-4921-92ec-f637a0b6feee","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:53ab2375-3e6a-4921-92ec-f637a0b6feee","Energy autonomy in Greek islands using “island-specific” renewable energy technologies: Energy autonomy","Papoutsis, Thanos (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Blok, K. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-10-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:edbeb231-a3f7-4d8d-b20b-a0225b79e650","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:edbeb231-a3f7-4d8d-b20b-a0225b79e650","Green Bonds as Catalysts for Job Creation in OECD Countries: A Quantitative Exploration of Labour Market Impacts","Noorlander, Stanley (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ralcheva, Aleksandrina (mentor); Blank, J.L.T. (mentor); Delgado Medina, Fátima (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","br","Bonds; Economics; Labour market; Quantitative analysis; panel data; Job Creation; Sustainable Finance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-11-30","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:32b38b40-c9d3-4223-b3c6-af5fc2930d07","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:32b38b40-c9d3-4223-b3c6-af5fc2930d07","Security with New Products: A case study analysis on innovation portfolio management at the Dutch Ministry of Defense","Mouton, Sam (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Veeneman, Wijnand (mentor); Smit, A.C. (mentor); van der Eerden, M.E. vd Eerden (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","(Innovation) portfolio management literature is extensive but barely touched upon in the public context. Portfolio management is instrumental in resource allocation and strategic decision-making, directing investments toward strategic priorities. This thesis explores how innovation portfolio management (IPM) is performed at the Dutch Ministry of Defense, and a comparison is made with private and public sector literature available.
Key findings illuminate pronounced disparities between the MoD’s IPM methodologies and those established in the private sector. Notably, the MoD’s IPM framework places subjective risk-reward metrics at the forefront of decision-making, diverging from conventional private sector emphasis on monetary considerations. Furthermore, the MoD’s IPM approach primarily revolves around project-level evaluations, constraining portfolio-level prioritization decision-making. The conspicuous absence of a articulated innovation strategy and the decentralized nature of portfolio oversight serve as additional distinguishing features of the MoD’s IPM practices. Moreover, the MoD’s unique procurement model, which relies extensively on external development, and its innovation strategy, predominantly shaped by market dynamics, set it apart from IPM practices commonly observed in the private sector. Existing public sector literature has provided valuation methodologies across diverse sectors;
however, these contributions have often neglected to provide a comprehensive under standing of how IPM is executed and have been relatively under-referenced. Within the MoD, this thesis reveals that the valuation of IPM, while exhibiting variations among different departments, predominantly relies on multi-criteria analysis (MCA) with a retrospective focus. Notably, subjective measures such as relevance and urgency are employed as yardsticks for assessing project value. This research enhances our understanding of IPM in the public sector and underscores the need to further explore and refine IPM methodologies within public organizations. It highlights the distinctive characteristics of IPM within the MoD and emphasizes the importance of aligning IPM practices with organizational objectives and strategies to optimize resource allocation and decision-making. With the results of this thesis, public entities have guidance on how to organize portfolio management and how prioritization
can be performed.
Book & claim facilitates the generation and trade of certificates for certain products & their properties. Combining carbon insetting with the book & claim chain of custody concept enables the generation and trade of scope 3 CO2 certificates for shippers when vessels bunker alternative fuels. Effectively enabling shippers that want their goods to be transported sustainably to pay the price premium for using alternative fuels, thereby facilitating change and sustainability in maritime shipping, without a change in logistics.
The purpose of this master’s thesis is to understand how the concept of book & claim based carbon insetting can enhance the competitive position of the port of Rotterdam for the bunkering of alternative fuels. By simultaneously understanding what potentially the most effective way is to implement this concept at the port. This is achieved through a literature review, together with a workshop conducted for Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoRA) employees.
The workshop results show that the participants have different views on how a book & claim based carbon insetting initiative should be approached. The participants’ answers covered a range, lying on two different ends of the spectrum for potential starting points.
A book & claim based carbon insetting initiative at the port of Rotterdam can potentially enhance the port’s competitive bunkering position for alternative fuels. Implementing this concept in the port would create a clear demand stream for alternative fuels, which will enable the scaling of the supply of alternative fuels within the port, improving their affordability.
Three frameworks were identified that each have their own approach to implementing book & claim based carbon insetting in the maritime shipping industry. These frameworks were evaluated based on six criteria, which were formulated from the results of the workshop. All three frameworks were evaluated for two scenarios based on the two different starting points addressed by the workshop participants.
Based on the above research results, a business strategy has been formulated for the PoRA regarding book & claim based carbon insetting. This proposed business strategy consists of general recommendations and a range of possible approaches the PoRA could take to support the concept.
Book & claim based carbon insetting for the maritime shipping industry is still in its infancy. It has the potential to lower the commercial risks surrounding the adoption of alternative fuels, accelerating the development of a market for sustainable shipping. In turn, accelerating the decarbonization of the maritime shipping industry while potentially enhancing the competitive bunkering position of the port of Rotterdam for alternative fuels if such an initiative is set up in the port.
Utilizing the Technological Innovation Framework (TIS), tailored for reuse innovations, the study analyzes the HCK technology within the European soft drinks system. The research journey encompasses a semi-systematic literature review, framework adaptation, an explorative case study on HCK, and an assessment of niche strategies.
Key findings reveal dominant niche strategies like ""Stand-alone,"" ""Adaptor,"" and ""Educate."" These strategies address pivotal barriers related to logistics, market knowledge, and consumer education. Additionally, ""Supply Chain Redesign"" emerges as a novel strategy, emphasizing efficient, cost-effective, and goal-aligned supply chain structures. In conclusion, this research offers invaluable insights into the intricate world of reuse innovations, providing a roadmap for future endeavors in the realm of circular economy.","Technological Innovation System (TIS); Reuse; circular economy; reverse logistics; adaptation phase; niche strategies","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2025-10-17","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:56d6b1a0-232d-4e13-b76f-cbf93040cd66","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:56d6b1a0-232d-4e13-b76f-cbf93040cd66","Green Transition Efficiency in African Countries: The role of climate aid and climate readiness","Muciaccia, Stefano (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Correljé, A. (mentor); Slinger, J (mentor); Ndubuisi, G.O. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This research is designed to provide a structured and comprehensive examination of the complex relationship between climate readiness, climate aid, and carbon efficiency in African countries. At its heart, the primary goal is to construct a climate readiness framework initially designed to assess developing nations and subsequently refine it to align with the distinct contexts of African nations. This framework undergoes a two-fold process, starting with its conceptualization and followed by its adaptation through a combination of theoretical examination and real-world application. It forms the foundation of this research, supplying essential insights relevant to policymakers and institutions engaged in tackling climate-related issues specific to Africa.
In the second phase of the study, a linear regression model is employed to analyze the connections between carbon efficiency, climate readiness, and climate aid. Carbon efficiency is determined using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), while the climate readiness variable is derived from the developed framework. The empirical findings underscore the critical role of targeted climate aid, particularly in countries with higher climate preparedness. This synergy contributes significantly to decoupling carbon emissions from economic growth, emphasizing the importance of strategic climate aid in fostering sustainable and environmentally responsible economic development.
Overall, this research aims to shed light on the complex interplay of factors shaping climate outcomes in African countries, providing a foundation for informed decision-making and policy development in the realm of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The primary objective was to identify the requirements for enabling real-time insights into SME manufacturing operations. Findings suggest that in-house infrastructure can facilitate the required transparency, provided it is lightweight and minimalistic. The essential factor is to transform machine-generated data into insightful metrics for relevant stakeholders. A significant aspect to consider is the human element— the adoption and commitment of employees towards the technology.
Upon analyzing the benefits, the research underscores that real-time insights lead to enhanced production efficiency. By offering an objective view into production data, SMEs can quickly identify and rectify bottlenecks. Moreover, such transparent insights improve communication within teams, empowering employees by showing the direct impact of their performance on overall production, thus boosting their morale and productivity.
The study also evaluates the key features needed to make these real-time insights actionable. Contrary to initial assumptions that a single KPI would suffice, it became evident that a more comprehensive view—incorporating metrics such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)—was necessary. For SMEs with diverse product portfolios, additional parameters like average batch size, cycle time, and machine power-on time provide valuable context.
Lastly, the implemented design framework showcases the positive impacts of real-time insights on production. Access to objective metrics aids in performance evaluation, problem identification, and the formulation of improvement strategies. An essential feature highlighted is the predictive capability that guides resource planning, thus minimizing errors.
This research emphasizes that manufacturing SMEs with legacy assets can achieve real-time insights into their processes through cost-effective, lightweight solutions. The proposed methods and guidelines, as discussed in detail in the design section, are foundational for SMEs aiming to modernize their operations and bridge the knowledge gap in implementing real-time monitoring. By offering universal access to transparent production metrics, SMEs can optimize their processes, ensuring better efficiency and communication at all levels of operation.","Industrial Internet of Things; IIoT; IoT; manufacturing; SME; data visualisation; dashboard; real time insights; legacy assets; Management of Technology; MoT","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:33700b42-9b40-4219-9052-29d27fb5865c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:33700b42-9b40-4219-9052-29d27fb5865c","Hydrogen in the Dutch built environment: Exploring the transition from natural gas to hydrogen based heating in the Dutch built environment through Socio-Technical Scenarios","Verberne, Leon (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hoppe, T. (mentor); Quist, J.N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The Dutch government published a Climate Accord in 2019 which stated that all houses in the Netherlands should be heated without CO2 emissions. The Dutch built environment is currently being heated with natural gas which forces actors within the heating system of the Dutch built environment to look for new technologies. At the same time, the increasing electricity demand results in grid congestion.
This thesis investigates the use of hydrogen for heating homes in the Netherlands and explores different future scenarios. The research question that is being answered in this thesis is “What is the development status of the hydrogen niche for heating homes in the Dutch-built environment and which socio-technical scenarios can be expected?’’. The theoretical frameworks, Multi-level Perspective, Strategic Niche Management, and Socio-technical scenarios were complementary used to analyse the context. With these theories, the interaction between technology and social elements have been analysed. Additionally, a qualitative study is executed by conducting 14 semi-structured interviews with experts from the field.
There are various hydrogen technologies developed for built environments. Some technologies are focussed on space heating like the hydrogen boilers in combination with a heat pump. While there are also technologies being developed which are primarily aimed at addressing the electrical net congestion challenge like fuel cells. These fuel cells also enable decentralized hydrogen production and storage. However, the feasibility is doubted among the interviewers due to limited scalability and safety concerns.
Currently, the top-of-mind barriers regarding the adoption of hydrogen in the Dutch built environment are mainly the uncertainty about the availability of green hydrogen, future prices, labour shortage, and user acceptance. The dominant barrier is the uncertainty about hydrogen availability. Due to still lacking availability of hydrogen companies are hesitant to invest resources in the development of hydrogen applications. The barrier labour shortage has not been found in previous literature, which makes this finding a novel contributions to academic research.
In this study 2 socio-technical scenarios regarding hydrogen in the Dutch built environment are formulated. In scenario 1 a reconfiguration transition occurs, whereas in scenario 2 a transformational transition occurs. These scenarios differ on the extent the electricity grid congestion is resolved. In both scenarios an extensive international hydrogen market established. Scenario 1 deals with a large amount of hydrogen and poor electricity grid capacity. In this scenario, hydrogen will be used as an alternative energy carrier to the built environment by utilizing fuel cells. Scenario 1's demonstration that fuel cells can be part of the solution for the electricity grid congestion. In scenario 2, the hydrogen economy is established and there is a resolved grid issue, which will lead to hydrogen being used for direct space heating.
This study shows how the niche could react to the development of hydrogen availability and the ability of the network operator’s electricity grid capacity in determining the role of hydrogen in the Dutch built environment. Additionally, it underscores the significance of government commitment and proactive policies for sustainable energy transitions.
This study explores the factors influencing investment attractiveness in clean technology clusters, focusing on company-level variables like patenting activity, publishing activity, and proximity to universities.
Using a case study approach, the research analyzes four Western European clean technology clusters, aiming to uncover insights and differences in investment attractiveness. The four clusters are Aclima (Basque Country, Spain), CLEAN (Central Region, Denmark), Greenreality (South Karelia, Denmark) and Water Alliance (The Netherlands). The analysis is divided into the single case reports for each cluster, exploring the variables at the company level, and into the cross-case analysis, bring the previous observations together at the cluster level.
The findings highlight the positive impact of patenting activity on cluster attractiveness for the clusters under study. While no distinct relationships were found for publishing activity and university proximity, the cluster-level additional factors in consideration provided useful identifying some potentially meaningful differences between the clusters, such as the approach and recognition of their regions and countries toward sustainability.
However, the study also acknowledges its limitations, mainly stated as the availability and quality of data, as well as some methodological decisions on the assessment of investment attractiveness, suggesting future research opportunities in this dynamic field. From elaborating a more refined iteration of this study to approaching new topics, the findings and limitations of this research invite future researchers to enrich the body of knowledge associated with clean technology clusters, and in particular with their funding dynamics.
The implications of this study mainly concern the positive influence of patenting on the attractiveness of companies and clusters. Pursuing and supporting this kind of intellectual protection activity could prove to be a powerful tool for firms and cluster managers.","investment attractiveness; clean technology clusters; clusters; innovation capabilities; access to knowledge","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:25bc7e39-7065-47d7-8d84-e5b25e5f2aca","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:25bc7e39-7065-47d7-8d84-e5b25e5f2aca","More effective knowledge sharing of nature-based flood defense pilots: A knowledge base approach","Klein Essink, Casper (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Vreugdenhil, H.S.I. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Slinger, J (graduation committee); Penna, C.C.R. (graduation committee); Leung, Nick (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Currently, there is no standardised process for monitoring and evaluation of nature-based flood defenses pilots in Dutch rivers and floodplains. Thus, piloted technologies cannot be compared fairly with other nature-based flood defense technologies and conventional solutions. This study developed such a process by way of a monitoring and evaluation framework, using a research-by-design approach. This monitoring and evaluation framework is incorporated into a knowledge base that was developed in parallel to store the results of monitoring and evaluating and to effectively share knowledge about each pilot for future reference. The primary intended users of the knowledge base are researchers, therefore requirements were elicited via interviews with matter experts. Findings from the interviews, combined with literature review, formed the basis of design and development for the monitoring and evaluation framework and knowledge base. A second round of interviews was held for iterative improvements of this design via feedback and subsequent revision. In total, three design-feedback iterations were done. The last provided validation results of the improved solution. The main findings indicate that a knowledge base approach has merit and it is suggested that Rijkswaterstaat adopt and improve this solution as a template within their innovation process. The innovation process at Rijkswaterstaat is being developed right now and has incorporated evaluation of pilots. Additional results are a large number of possible avenues for further development and future research.","Nature-based solution; Nature-based flood defense; Nature-based flood defences; nature-based flood defences; Rivers; Monitoring and evaluation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:07c9eb78-c3c9-4a52-8183-c37731de58b5","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:07c9eb78-c3c9-4a52-8183-c37731de58b5","The Dutch Public Sector and Cloud Computing: Motivating factors in the decision-making process and their interaction","van Merrienboer, Marleen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Bharosa, Nitesh (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Oosterhoff, J.H.F. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Technology advancements and growing demands from citizens brought about a digital transformation of the Dutch public sector. As the digital standard rises higher and higher, the Dutch public sector is faced with the task to offer a strong digital environment and can choose to do so by either maintaining current IT infrastructures or by investing in alternatives.
At the moment the most promising alternative seems to be cloud technology. Cloud technology, or more specifically public cloud technology, provides the option to ’rent’ computing resources remotely from an external party. It is already widely in use within the private sector, as well as in some European governments. However, to introduce public cloud technology some hurdles must be overcome, such as concerns related to data security or the dependence on soft- and hardware that has been superseded but is difficult to replace. To gain more insight into the issue of the public cloud being a viable option to accommodate future digital transformation, it is first and foremost important to know what variables play a role in the decision-making process: what are the incentives to answer this question with either a ’yes’ or a ’no’? The objective of this study will therefore be to investigate this landscape of variables that influence the decision to adopt public cloud technology. It starts with the identification of variables from current research and reports, and then explores possible interrelationships. The identification and classification of these relationships could eventually help to bring about a well-considered decision about public cloud adoption in the Dutch public sector.
Reviewing current research related to variables that influence cloud adoption, three research gaps emerged. Firstly, current research was delineated to the Netherlands and therefore failed to capture geographically specific variables, such as legal or cultural characteristics. Secondly, authors that analysed the decision-making process of adopting cloud technology neglected any interrelations between different variables. Thirdly, existing theories fell short in capturing the full scope of could computing adoption decisions, being either too generic or not specific enough.
To address the knowledge gaps and simultaneously fulfil the objective of this study, Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and Fuzzy Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement (MICMAC) methods are used. ISM aims to simplify complex relationships between a system of variables by providing a graphical representation of the hierarchical structure of that system. Fuzzy MICMAC is used to assess the strength of the relationship between the variables. In total, 22 interviews with experts in the field were held as input for the analysis. The experts worked in the Dutch public sector and were familiar with the decision-making process related to cloud computing adoption.
In the first step of ISM, relevant current literature and official Dutch documents and reports were used to create a list of eight variables that would have a negative effect on the decision to adopt cloud computing within the Dutch public sector. These were classified as the ’barriers’. Additionally, a list of eight positive variables was created and classified as the ’drivers’. Then, the ISM Fuzzy MICMAC steps were followed for both lists.
Key findings for ISM can be described as ’how many’ other variables are influenced by a certain variable, or by ’how many’ other variables this certain variable influences (including indirect effects). For Fuzzy MICMAC, results can be described by using the terms driving power, i.e. how ’strong’ does a variable influence other variables in the system, and dependence power, i.e. how ’strong’ is a variable influenced by other variables.
For the barriers, Regulations and government policy was the variable that had the most influence on other variables within the barrier system. The barrier that influenced other variables the strongest however (i.e. had the highest driving power), was Lack of knowledge and capabilities. Both Internal resistance to change and Negative business case were influenced by the highest number of other variables and did not affect any new variables. The variables with the highest dependence power were Internal resistance to change and Data security concerns.
For the drivers, Bigger knowledge market, Ease of use and Improved hard- and software were the variables that had the most influence on other variables within the drivers’ system. The driver with the highest driving power was Improved hard- and software. Governmental strategy was influenced by the highest number of other variables and did not affect any new variables. The variables with the highest dependence power were Lower and flexible cost and Governmental strategy.
The findings of this research have practical and theoretical implications. Practical, because they can support decisions about cloud within the Dutch public sector. Theoretical, since the findings suggest new variables, interrelations and theories related to public cloud computing. Furthermore, it uses ISM Fuzzy MICMAC, which is often used in the context of novel technologies, but never before for cloud computing adoption decisions.
Future research could address the limitations of this study, such as the exclusion of a feedback loop from the experts during the identification of the variables. Alternatively, research could use the Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) method to investigate the relationships further.","cloud computing; public sector; ISM; Fuzzy MICMAC","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d76e7929-a191-4e57-be96-1fbecccd43f9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d76e7929-a191-4e57-be96-1fbecccd43f9","The influence of diversity and size of standard setting organisations and standards consortia on standard success","Verkleij, Ruud (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Smit, A.C. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Grossmann, I. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Standardisation plays a crucial role in driving long-term productivity, competitive growth, and innovation in various industries. Its primary objective is to streamline processes by establishing consensus among different stakeholders, such as firms, users, academia and governments. Standards provide classifications such as quality, compatibility, safety, or measurements to ensure that products and procedures meet specific requirements and can be reliably used across different domains. In spite of the importance of standardisation, there is a lot to learn about the factors that influence standard success. As of now, literature in this field is mostly exploratory in nature. This study investigates the factors influencing the success of standardisation efforts, in particular, it examines the impact of technological diversity and geographical diversity within standard setting organisations (SSOs) or standards consortia on achieving standard success. Additionally, the study explores the role of the size of these SSOs or standards consortia in influencing the likelihood of standard success. Next to that, the influence of the definition of standard success is also examined, by providing three different theoretical definitions for standard success. This study adds on to the literature by providing larger scale qualitative research in an attempt to better understand the dynamics of standard success. In this study an original dataset was created of standards consortia in the context of Renewable Energy (RE) and Sustainability, Efficiency, and Green Initiatives (SEG). The chosen context is significant for addressing the global climate problem, a complex and multifaceted wicked problem that requires collaborative efforts. Therefore, the understanding of which factors influence the success of standards is essential to tackle climate change's adverse impacts. Standards are important in providing universal guidelines, products and protocols that are needed to combat climate change. The results indicate the presence of a U-shaped relationship between technological diversity and standards success, this result has not yet been found earlier and implies that instead of an optimum range of diversity, managers should to be at either extreme end of the technological diversity spectrum. Moreover, we observe a positive relationship between consortium size and standard success, meaning that whenever possible, managers should aim to increase consortium size. This study provides a better understanding of how the characteristics of standards consortia influence standard success which can also aid managers in making well-educated choices when setting up standards consortia.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b154509d-d090-4a71-bdfd-5ecb9e93c53f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b154509d-d090-4a71-bdfd-5ecb9e93c53f","Sustainable HRM as a driver for innovative work behavior","van der Wielen, Stef (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); de Vries, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This research explores the relationship between sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and innovative work behavior, considering work engagement as a mediator. The study addresses a significant knowledge gap regarding how sustainable HRM practices impact innovative work behavior and work engagement within organizations. While prior research has examined these concepts separately, their interplay and mechanisms remain unclear. Furthermore, this study seeks to provide insights on whether sustainable HRM practices can drive innovative work behavior, which is valuable for HR managers and organizational leaders striving to foster innovation and sustainable practices.
The research employs a quantitative approach, using a structured questionnaire to collect data from employees currently working under contracts in the Netherlands. The sample includes 88 usable responses from diverse industries in the Netherlands. Measures used encompass the three dimensions of sustainable HRM (respect-oriented, openness-oriented, and continuity-oriented), innovative work behavior facets (idea exploration, idea generation, idea championing, and idea implementation), and work engagement dimensions (vigor, dedication, and absorption).
The analysis of the gathered data reveals no significant direct relationship between sustainable HRM dimensions and innovative work behavior. However, there is a statistical significance proving a link between sustainable HRM dimensions and work engagement. However, work engagement does not mediate the link between sustainable HRM and innovative work behavior, as there is no relationship found between work engagement and innovative work behavior.
The results advocate for continued integration of sustainable HRM practices by HR departments, despite the lack of direct relationship with innovative work behavior. The reason for this, is that this study proves that sustainable HRM practices demonstrate a positive link with work engagement, which contributes to employee well-being and organizational success.","HRM; HRM practices; innovative work behaviour; Employee Engagement","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:bd303382-0557-487b-83a4-3e3a816c0501","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bd303382-0557-487b-83a4-3e3a816c0501","The Influence of Digitalization on Industrial Startups in the Netherlands","van Dijk, Robin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Gartner, J. (mentor); Smit, A.C. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","90% out of all startups fail, which is the cause of several reasons like lack of funds, lack of market need and bad management among other things. Digitalization can help startups to solve these problems, by performing processes more efficient than when they are performed manually.
The objective of this research is to build a model to estimate the average influence of digitalization on the success of a startup in all phases during their lifecycle among other established factors, according to their own input. Moreover, this research will investigate the current use of digitalization at industrial startups and how digitalization can help industrial startups to accelerate their innovations. Additionally, this will result in a few examples of how digitalization is used today at startups and a number of recommendations for further research.
This research focuses on industrial startups that are located in the Netherlands, because the Netherlands is a leading high tech country with a world class technical university and science hub and for the reason that similar research has been done in several other countries, only no research has been found on the impact of digitalization (on industrial startups) in the Netherlands. This research will answer the following main research question and sub-questions:
Main RQ: How can digitalization help industrial startups to accelerate their innovations?
SQ1. What are the obstacles that industrial startups in the Netherlands run into during the startup and transition phase?
SQ2. How do startups evaluate their digitalization strategy?
Employees from eight startups have been interviewed during qualitative exploratory expert interviews. These eight startups are divided in two groups. The first group will entail five startups that are currently in the early stage startup phase and the second group will entail three startups that are currently in the scale up phase. During the analysis of the data, the startups (and their data) in the first group are compared with each other. After this, the startups (and their data) in the second group are compared with each other and at last, (the startups in) both groups are compared with each other.
The different obstacles from startups resulted from different research methods. The obstacles that were found during a literature review are: a lack of funds, lack of market need, lack of experience, bad management, premature scaling and a strong competition. From the interview with the investment director of YES!Delft the following obstacles resulted: lack of long term vision, producing everything in-house, going to the market too late, not separating main and side issues & not clearing obstacles in the near future before they run into them. The startups came up with some similar obstacles, but also different ones, like finding (new) people, sales and/or customer acquisition, cybersecurity, lack of funds, big geographical distances, strict/heavy legislation, finding suitable (scalable) software programs, maintaining high quality standards, long negotiation times with customers and decisions of widening/narrowing the product portfolio.
All startups stated that digitalization is very important (one even called it a key success factor), however only three startups could give some kind of definition of what it is exactly and only two startups have a digital roadmap. Even though several startups stated that they would recommend to other startups to start as early as possible with digitalization, they all stated that digitalization is the least important in the first two phases of a startup compared to the last two phases.
The examples of applications that startups mentioned, range from the more simple examples like online meetings and 3D modelling software, to the more advance examples like an ERP system, MES system, machine learning models and newly created API’s. With the help of these applications of digitalization, startups can save time and money in the long run.
During this research it became clear that digitalization can accelerate the innovations of industrial startups, but it is not the most important factor and cannot carry a startup on its own. Digitalization is a tool to get somewhere and not a goal on itself.
The contribution of this research to the literature is a conceptual model that has been used during this research to measure the influence of digitalization (among other variables) on the success of industrial startups in the Netherlands. The practical contribution of this research for startups is to create awareness among startups about the influence of digitalization, the fact that startups can read about the obstacles that they could encounter and some possible solutions for these obstacles as well. Companies that offer applications of digitalization can use this research as orientation for the creation of tailormade digitalization solutions for startups.
Recommendations for further research are: to dive deeper into the phenomenon digitalization, to investigate why some startups say that digitalization needs to be used early, but then contradict themselves with filling in the conceptual model, the influence of digitalization at startups in other sectors and the influence of digitalization among larger corporations.
The government of the Netherlands has taken several measures to achieve climate neutrality, one crucial task being the replacement of natural gas in its heating network. The heating sector so far has been reliant on shale gas for the past few decades, and the government now wants to implement new alternatives that are more sustainable. To anticipate the most favorable options, governmental bodies and local authorities are utilizing tools to assist them in their decision-making processes, especially energy system models.
Energy system modelling is a process of developing and analyzing models that represent the components and processes of energy systems. These models help to simulate the operation and behavior of energy systems under different scenarios and conditions, and to evaluate the impacts of policy decisions and technology choices. However, energy system models often neglect the social dimensions which are essential components of energy justice. This study aims to present a critical analysis of the representation of energy justice in energy system models through a case study and identifies the challenges of integrating energy justice considerations into energy system modelling. Thus the
following main research question was formulated:
To what extent have energy justice principles been represented in Energy modelling employed in the Dutch Heating Transition?
To set up the study, it was essential to establish the concept of energy justice and explore what kind of modelling approaches were being deployed. A literature review on this topic helped to understand the concepts, and select an energy justice framework that would serve as the base for this study (Sovacool & Dworkin, 2015). The framework provided a set of justice principles that were selected to assess the modelling use cases. This thesis explores the integration of energy justice principles within energy system modelling through an analysis of two distinct use case approaches in the municipality level, in the districts of Amersfoort and Drechtsteden in the Netherlands. These two use cases were chosen since they both had a large, diverse population, they had implemented a Heat Transition Vision and they made use of an energy model in their decision making process. The study aims to understand how energy justice considerations are manifested in the models and transition visions that were drafted, the challenges and opportunities they present, and their implications for equitable and sustainable energy transitions.
The study then included a document analysis to collect information, where a total of eleven reports were scrutinized to find how justice principles were defined in the models and heat visions. This was followed by semi structured interviews with eight participants from varied backgrounds, to gather their perspectives on how justice principles were interpreted and the challenges they faced. The data collected was categorically grouped in themes, focusing on affordability, transparency, resistance and sustainability. The results of this study reveal that both use cases incorporate elements of energy justice in an indirect manner. Affordability is addressed through mechanisms like tax credits and
investment allowances. Transparency is facilitated through engagement platforms and collaborative sessions, promoting stakeholder involvement. While resistance in the form of economic barriers is recognized, social aspects of resistance receive less attention. Sustainability is evident through considerations of energy-saving potential and monitoring carbon emissions.
While energy justice principles are not explicitly defined in the models, various attributes and mechanisms correspond to these principles. However, challenges and limitations include diverse interpretations of energy justice, tensions between prioritizing technical and social dimensions, and the quantification of ethical concepts. The difficulty in selecting the right modelling approach and the right source of information also leads to uncertainty and complexity.
This study contributes to the understanding of energy justice by providing empirical insights into its integration within energy system modeling. The findings highlight the complexities and possibilities of this integration, offering lessons for policymakers, researchers, and model developers. Recommendations for future research include exploring the impacts of energy justice measures in other sectors of the transition and also utilizing other frameworks to assess energy justice.","Energy Justice; Energy System Model; Energy Transition; Affordability; Transparency; Netherlands; Heat Transition Vision","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:237114f7-5afa-4c9c-a7b3-2176e5a62f6a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:237114f7-5afa-4c9c-a7b3-2176e5a62f6a","Analysing the Usage of Corporate Environmental, Societal and Governance Data in the European Union Banking Sector","GANAPATHY SUBRAMANIAN SANKARAN, RISHAB (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (mentor); Gartner, J. (graduation committee); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Ralcheva, Aleksandrina (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","In the current environmental conditions, with the rise of sustainable finance concepts like Environmental, Societal and Governance (ESG), firms in the financial sector have found new ways to drive sustainable change. Banks in particular play a key role in promoting sustainable practices both within their organization and also have a significant effect on the global economy. However, banks have had difficulties integrating ESG practices in their sustainable credit distribution products to corporate clients.
Due to the qualitative nature of ESG data, even with the involvement of regulatory bodies, there are no established standardized processes for ESG integration. Literature exhibits a clear knowledge gap on the utilization of ESG data in the credit risk assessment process. Furthermore, the primary barriers faced during this process have been attributed to comparability, materiality, accuracy, and reliability of ESG data quality with the lack of comparability having the most significant impact. Hence, based on the knowledge gap identified, the following main research questions were formed:
“How can banks in the EU effectively utilize corporate ESG data during the sustainable corporate financing process?”
By fusing a thorough literature review and 11 interviews of professionals from the banking industry, consultancies, and asset management companies, a process flow diagram was mapped highlighting the different phases of the sustainable corporate financing process. The main phases were comprised of: Opportunity, Due diligence, Determining need for ESG data, Sourcing ESG data, Corporate Sustainability Assessment, Setting KPI’s and Decision. Furthermore, during this process the primary barriers were classified as Data Quality Barriers (Lack of Materiality, Lack of Accuracy, Lack of Comparability and Lack of Reliability) and Integration Challenges (Lack of Data, Sourcing Data, Quantification of Data). Given the relevance of the comparability barrier, its effects were studied in more detail and was followed by proposing a conceptual framework bolstered by stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and institutional theory to solve the barrier of Lack of Comparability. The relevant dependent variables in this framework were identified as: Data Harmonization Initiatives, Standardization Efforts, Industry Collaboration, Regulatory Interventions/Compliance and Client Engagements. As directed by the conceptual framework, banks were recommended to adopt the dependent variables Data Harmonization Initiatives, Standardization Efforts and Industry Collaboration and were further advised to help clients adhere to compliance. Furthermore, stakeholders' motivation and regulatory incentives were highlighted as key determiners in addressing the barrier. A processual validity approach was adopted to ensure validity throughout the research process which additionally consisted of validating the generated process flow and conceptual framework by relevant experts.
The outcomes of the explorative research showcased the intricacies in the sustainability credit risk assessment and the stakeholders involved while highlighting the interrelation between the barriers identified. Though the lack of a comparability conceptual framework was proposed to be a barrier with significant effects, during the interview analysis it was revealed that the advent of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) would have a significant effect on this barrier and that challenges like sourcing ESG data and lack of ESG data would be more relevant in a few years. Although the conceptual framework accounted for this, some of the limitations in this research study were the inability to recruit more interviewees and also the inability to gather interview data from an external data provider to retrieve a true holistic approach. For future research, studies are recommended to research the effects of the implementation of CSRD and to study the state of other pressing barriers.","ESG data; Sustainable Finance; Banks","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e49fa816-eef2-4cd8-aeb7-5bbfe38323b0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e49fa816-eef2-4cd8-aeb7-5bbfe38323b0","Bridging the Gap: A Comparative Study of Internal Stakeholder Engagement Strategies in the Process Industry for Green Innovation Implementation","PRITSA, ANASTASIA (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Veeneman, Wijnand (mentor); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This thesis investigates the intricate relationship between internal stakeholder engagement, green innovation implementation, and project success within the process industry. Drawing from a mixed-methods approach, the study combines theoretical insights from extensive literature with survey data collected from participants in the NAP Network. The research addresses challenges encountered during green innovation initiatives and identifies strategies to engage internal stakeholders effectively, ultimately boosting project success. To comprehensively achieve the research goals, a mixed-methods approach was adopted. The study began with a thorough literature review, establishing variables, conceptualizing relationships, and forming a theoretical framework. This groundwork informed the development of a questionnaire capturing insights, strategies, and challenges related to internal stakeholder engagement, process industry type, green innovation implementation, and project success. The survey process upheld ethical standards, ensuring participant consent and anonymity. The questionnaire reached NAP-affiliated participants, a significant process industry network. This method facilitated the collection of data on stakeholder engagement strategies, encountered challenges, and diverse viewpoints on green innovation. Findings provide valuable insights into the complex dynamics linking internal stakeholder engagement, green innovation implementation, and project success in the process industry. Despite the sample size limitation (N=24), collected data offers perspectives that illuminate challenges faced and strategies employed. The research identifies shared and individual challenges faced by various process industry sectors during green innovation initiatives. Common hurdles encompass resistance to change, lack of top management support, and competing priorities. Interestingly, industry-specific challenges did not significantly hinder green innovation implementation, possibly due to participants’ expertise and confidence. These challenges emphasize the pivotal role of effective internal stakeholder engagement in surmounting obstacles and driving successful green innovation. Respondents’ insights reveal various strategies to engage internal stakeholders in green innovation projects. Workshops and collaborative sessions stand out as highly effective approaches, fostering creativity, cross-functional collaboration, and shared responsibility. This underscores the significance of interactive methods in overcoming challenges and promoting successful implementation. However, the strategies used for engaging internal stakeholders do not necessarily guarantee project success. Furthermore, findings highlight how internal stakeholders’ perspectives and concerns positively influence green innovation practices and project success. Participants’ views on green innovation vary, with some seeing it as a response to environmental demands, while others perceive it as a way to gain a competitive edge and enhance brand reputation. Successful green innovation practices also contribute to project success in the process industry. These perspectives underscore the diverse motivations driving green innovation implementation. Acknowledging limitations stemming from extensive literature, potential researcher bias, and a relatively small sample, the study suggests avenues for future research. Recommendations encompass replicating the study with a larger sample, exploring specific industry sectors, and examining the financial implications of green innovation implementation. In conclusion, this study blends theoretical insights with survey data to offer a comprehensive understanding of the intricate relationship between internal stakeholder engagement, green innovation implementation, and project success in the process industry. The research underscores the critical role of effective stakeholder engagement strategies in overcoming challenges and propelling sustainable innovation initiatives. Despite limitations, these insights hold potential for practical applications and serve as a basis for further research in the field of green innovation and sustainability.","Diverse Industry Challenges; Engagement Strategies; Project success","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-10-15","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:089a7e6f-a21a-430b-8abd-cd34b8eb06aa","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:089a7e6f-a21a-430b-8abd-cd34b8eb06aa","Sharing Knowledge in an Emerging Field: The Case of a Knowledge Management System for Carbon Farming in the Netherlands","ATHANASAKIS, THEODOSIOS (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Lieu, J. (mentor); Doorn, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","","Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Management System; Carbon Farming; Digitalization; Digitalization of Knowledge","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9bad8917-7a61-40e9-9cf4-ca0c055074c7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9bad8917-7a61-40e9-9cf4-ca0c055074c7","Exploring the pre-scaleup development of Healthtech startups: the case of Dutch healthtech startups","ten Siethoff, Saskia (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Vandekerckhove, P.B.M. (mentor); Khodaei, H. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Health systems globally, currently face many multi-faceted and dynamic challenges. There is a growing demand for quality healthcare, shifting expectations towards more responsibility for patients in their own health journey, an evolving role of technologies within society, and external pressures to decrease costs and improve sustainability in a directive towards more preventative healthcare. In response to these challenges, many innovative technologies have been developed and applied for example to improve medical devices, enable virtual health services, manage patient and health system data and for other applications throughout the value-chain of health systems. There is a continually growing need for such innovations to be developed and implemented, despite the uncertainty characterising the ever-evolving health system landscape.
In the attempt to address the need for innovative health technologies, there has been an explosion of firms, entrepreneurs, and innovation hubs shifting their focus to developing and implementing new health technologies. Healthtech innovation and start-ups are vital to improve the quality and capacity of available healthcare, relieve overburdened health systems, and match shifting needs and expectations within the health industry. However, it has been observed that many start-ups are failing to grow to a point where their innovations can make an impact and have sustainable success in the health system. The downfall of many startups focusing on developing health technologies (healthtech startups) occurs most frequently in the time before they manage to start selling their health technologies to customers, or what is termed ""scaling-up"". Although there are many aspects or factors that play a role in the failure of these healthtech startups, there is one palpable observation; the development journey experienced by healthtech startups before scaling-up is distinctly unique and misunderstood. This observation calls for research to create a better understanding of the complex and unique development required of healthtech startups - to facilitate their ability in scaling-up, selling and implementing their health technologies.
In line with addressing this need, this thesis begins by conducted a literature study focused on technology and health technology startup development, aiming to explore the existing knowledge concerning the pre-scaleup phase in healthtech startups. The literature study consisted of a two-stage review process, beginning with a scoping review of literature pertaining to the technology startups and their early development, and proceeding with a rapid review of literature related to specifically healthtech startups in their early development phases. This examination revealed a recurrent tendency in the literature to discuss this startup phase through several key themes. Drawing from this discovery, the subsequent step
involved characterising available literature information into nine defining themes: regulation, network, development processes, financing, capabilities, performance metrics, solution, system and market context, and social aspects; which collectively define the pre-scaleup development of healthtech startups.
The literature study emphasised the distinctiveness of healthtech startups in their pre-scaleup journey, underscoring the imperative to investigate how this distinctiveness could be effectively represented. Consequently, the thesis advanced to exploring models that could represent the unique nature of the early development of healthtech startups. Existing models geared towards representing and guiding early startup development were critically evaluated accruing to their limitations in comprehensively capturing the distinctive aspects specific to the pre-scaleup development phase within the healthtech sector. This evaluation culminated in a synthesis of insights derived from both the reviewed models and the themes identified from literature. This synthesis aimed to clarify the distinct attributes intrinsic to healthtech startups, ultimately culminating in the formulation of a bespoke theoretical model tailored to effectively represent the pre-scaleup progression of healthtech startups. The model incorporates elements from existing literature models to construct a developmental framework delineating stages and pivotal points that encapsulate the fundamental activities undertaken during healthtech startup evolution. It also spotlights the essential challenges that demand resolution to propel a startup to subsequent developmental phases. Built with adaptability and collaboration in mind, the model allows for iterative processes and the seamless exchange of feedback across successive stages. The theoretical model captures the pre-scaleup journey of a healthtech startup within five distinct developmental stages: (1) concept development, (2) opportunity framing, (3) clinical validation, (4) pre-organisation, and finally, (5) scale-up. These stages are demarcated by a set of critical barriers termed ’critical junctures’. Comprising four such junctures - (1) problem-solution fit, (2) commitment, (3) credibility, and (4) scale-readiness - these represent the essential obstacles that must be surmounted for a healthtech startup to forge ahead in its growth trajectory.
Furthermore, the thesis introduced and implemented an approach to gather supplementary data, thereby enriching the insights and comprehension of healthtech startups and their pre-scaleup development. This involved conducting a series of interviews with individuals possessing various perspectives, expertise and practical experiences in the pre-scaleup phase of healthtech startups in the Netherlands. The conducted interviews, coupled with their subsequent inductive coding analysis, yielded a range of valuable insights that were categorised into themes, providing a characterisation of the pre-scaleup progression of healthtech startups. Moreover, these interviews yielded information that resonated with the previously established theoretical model.
Upon recognising the emergence of consistent themes in both literature and the interview data, a subsequent comparison was conducted to compare these two research approaches. The culmination of this comparison led to the formulation of a definitive catalogue consisting of four key and four lesser ""characteristics of the pre-scaleup development of healthtech startups"" that effectively encapsulate the pre-scaleup journey of healthtech startups, enhancing the characterisation, definition, and comprehension of this development phase. The resulting four key characteristics are; (1) the network and people involved, (2) the development processes carried out, (3) the financing methods used to support the development journey, and (4) the applicable regulations of the health technology being developed and how the healthtech startup conforms to them. The four lesser characteristics capture (1) the social considerations to be accounted for, (2) the characteristics of the health solution that must be prioritised, (3) the capabilities that are essential within the development of a healthtech startups, and (4) the influence of the context of the health system and market on the development journey of healthtech startups.
Furthermore, the insights garnered from the interviews provided substantial input relevant to the theoretical model. These inputs subsequently generated several recommendations for prospective research endeavours, aimed at assessing the practical viability of a model akin to the theoretical construct developed in this thesis. It is recommended that the model be tested or applied in case studies to gauge the practical applicability of the model. Moreover, the interviews also revealed an unexplored linkage between deliverable, evidence levels, and critical junctures. Future research efforts should explore the incorporation of measurable outcomes that correlate to the relevant development stage or critical juncture in the model. Additionally, it was found that processes, evidence requirements, and activities may significantly differ based on the type of health technology being developed. While the theoretical model’s overall structure might suit diverse healthtech startups, it may fail to represent the specific activities and barriers for medical devices, biotechnology, and electronic health technologies. The model holds potential as a guiding tool for comprehending and directing healthtech startup pre-scaleup development. However, it requires refinement to address gaps, ideally through extensive case studies, broader expert input, and collaboration with process modelling experts. Ultimately, the model lays a foundation for future research aimed at producing a more accurate representation of the unique challenges posed by healthtech startup pre-scaleup development.
Finally, some key observations are discussed and several recommendations are made for future related research. There is a major emphasis placed on ’user-centred’ development of health technologies during the interviews and in literature. One of the most popular methods of user-centred development in literature, called Participatory Design, demonstrates that the active involvement of users from early in the development of a health technology facilitates trust, shared understanding, and ultimately helps develop a solution that satisfies the needs of all its stakeholders and encourages its successful adoption in the health system. Furthermore, there are several social and ethical considerations that healthtech startups should consider throughout their development. Both the analysis of existing literature and interviews with industry professionals highlighted the fragmented nature of information concerning the responsibility for upholding ethical and socially responsible practices in the pre-scaleup development of healthtech startups. Key stakeholders emerged from the literature search, including startups, regulatory bodies like the FDA and EMA, healthcare professionals, ethics committees, industry organisations, data protection agencies, patient advocacy groups, and academic institutions. These stakeholders collectively share the responsibility for ensuring patient safety, data privacy, and ethical considerations throughout the development and use of health technologies. Further research is necessary to explore the allocation and sharing of these ethical responsibilities among stakeholders in the healthtech sector.
Having explored the unique journey that healthtech startups experience in their aspiration to develop valuable and sustainable solutions for health systems, is it evident that there are in fact many misunderstood and overlooked aspects, challenges and factors that make their mission more difficult than expected.
This thesis presents a first attempt to better understand the unique experience that healthtech startups have in their pre-scaleup development, and the findings of this thesis should become a starting platform for future research into this unexplored matter.","Health Tech; Start-up; Start-up Activities; start-up growth; Startup; Scale-up","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e8480d5e-2b76-4930-8cf0-b727e9036186","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e8480d5e-2b76-4930-8cf0-b727e9036186","Enhancing the Transition from the Ideation to the Successful Market Entry of Emerging Medical Technologies: A Qualitative Research Approach","KYRKIMTZIS, APOSTOLOS (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); van der Linden, N. (graduation committee); Vandekerckhove, P.B.M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","In an era marked by healthcare advancements driven by innovative technologies, the integration of emerging medical breakthroughs like VR, AI, and IoT has propelled the MedTech industry's exponential growth. Despite their transformative potential, navigating the MedTech commercialization pathway presents formidable challenges; new medical technologies either fail to reach the market or enter the market but do not add significant value to the health system. This study seeks to address this issue by comprehensively exploring the intricate dynamics that underlie the transition from ideation to successful market entry of emerging medical technologies. A thorough literature review accompanied by qualitative research with semi-structured interviews to gain insights from diverse stakeholders in the MedTech ecosystem, uncovering multifaceted perspectives that enrich the understanding of this complex process. The research identifies and analyses six dimensions crucial for the MedTech commercialization trajectory: organizational strategy, design strategy, business strategy, commercial strategy, marketing strategy, and post-commercialization strategy. The findings underscore the significance of factors such as a strong interdisciplinary startup team credible toward investors; careful designed strategies, influenced by input from patients and physicians and balancing internal control and collaborative development; a grasp of the MedTech ecosystem's value chain and early HTA to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of the technology and guide a smart business strategy aligned with stakeholders’ incentives; safeguarding intellectual property ensures consistent revenue streams; strategically navigating the commercial pathways toward the professional care or the mass market; a strong marketing strategy to reach customer channels and boost sales and awareness; and adaptability to secure long-term achievements beyond the initial launch phase. Ultimately, the study develops a strategic roadmap that offers practical guidance to innovators seeking to navigate the intricate journey from idea inception to market success of emerging medical technologies. This research holds potential to foster smoother transitions and enhance the likelihood of successful market entry for emerging medical technologies, fostering a transformative impact on healthcare systems and patient outcomes.","MedTech; commercialization; emerging technologies; healthcare; strategic roadmap","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:03123229-0984-487e-961d-05777ffd24e0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:03123229-0984-487e-961d-05777ffd24e0","Exploring the role of Niche Strategies in overcoming Barriers to Circular Innovation: Exploratory Case Studies on Circular High-Tech firms in The Netherlands","Raghav Shankar, Raghav Shankar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Khodaei, H. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (graduation committee); Kamp, L.M. (graduation committee); Delgado Medina, Fátima (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The study embarks on a comprehensive investigation into the domain of circular innovation within Dutch high-tech firms, probing the dynamics of drivers, barriers, and the strategic impact of niche strategies. The research methodology builds upon the adaptable foundation of the Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework, adapting it to the unique contours of circular innovation. This framework guides the research objectives, which encompass discerning the propulsive forces driving circular innovation, unraveling the contextual intricacies, and critically evaluating the applicability of the adapted TIS framework.
Guided by this framework, the research addresses three pivotal sub-questions that delve into the nuances of drivers, barriers and the strategic potency of niche strategies within the circular innovation landscape. The methodology seamlessly interweaves an expansive literature review with in-depth case studies of four distinct Dutch circular high-tech firms. Through rigorous qualitative analysis, recurrent drivers emerge, including the catalytic influence of emerging regulations, collaborative partnerships, strategic product design and value proposition, and intrinsic motivation. On the flip side, barriers encompass the complexities of production systems, complementary products and services, network formation and coordination, and the intricate maze of customer engagement challenges.
Embedded within the empirical insights are four distinct niche strategies, meticulously tailored to specific contexts: the Redesign Niche Strategy, the Decentralization Niche Strategy, the Turnkey Product-Service System (PSS) Niche Strategy, and the Compliance-Driven Stepping-Stone Niche Strategy. These strategies come to light as potent tools in surmounting the entrenched barriers, underscoring the significance of strategic alignment with regulatory shifts, the formation of collaborative networks, and the innovation-driven approach to product design in propelling circular innovation.
The strategic adaptation of the TIS framework to circular innovation not only enriches analytical depth but also highlights its pragmatic relevance. Consultations with experts from HollandCircularHotspot - a platform driving the advancement of the circular economy by facilitating collaboration, knowledge sharing, and representing Dutch circular companies on an international stage, serve to validate the framework's utility, affirming its efficacy in dissecting the ever-evolving landscape of circular innovation. Acknowledging its limitations, such as the limited scope of case studies and the geographical focus on Dutch high-tech companies, the study sets the stage for future research endeavors.
In summation, this thesis offers a substantial contribution to comprehending the dynamics of circular innovation within Dutch high-tech enterprises. It underscores the pivotal role of specific strategies and reaffirms the pertinence of the adapted TIS framework. With its blend of empirical insights and theoretical foundations, the study illuminates potential pathways for circumventing barriers to circular innovation, paving the way for transformative change within the high-tech circular landscape.","Circular Innovation; circular economy; Technological Innovation System (TIS); niche strategies; Barriers to Circular Innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2024-12-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9b5b96ed-8d4a-4353-83a3-af8e809dca28","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9b5b96ed-8d4a-4353-83a3-af8e809dca28","Towards Inclusivity In Entrepreneurship: Utilizing Highly Skilled Refugees: A Research on Supporting Syrian Refugee Entrepreneurs in Germany and the Netherlands through Collaboration between Business Incubators and Local Governments","Jabri, Mohammed (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Recent findings by the OECD highlight that a significant proportion of refugees in Europe possess high levels of education, often being overqualified for their roles. However, literature seldom addresses the unique challenges these highly educated refugees face when integrating into the labor market. This research examines the role of entrepreneurship in integrating highly skilled Syrian refugees into the labor markets of Germany and the Netherlands. Using a qualitative research design, including literature review, desk-based research, and semi-structured interviews, the study reveals that both countries currently lack specialized support for such refugees during their asylum and integration processes. They face numerous challenges, including legislative, administrative, financial, socio-cultural, and market-related barriers. Moreover, collaboration between local government actors and business incubators is sparse. In light of these findings, the research advocates for improved policies and specialized business incubator models tailored for these refugees, aiming to leverage their skills and education for the benefit of host countries. The insights provided by this research underscore the untapped potential of educated refugees, emphasizing the necessity for more inclusive policies and support structures. Future directions for research include exploring bespoke business incubator models in Germany and the Netherlands and broadening the study's scope to other nations and demographics. This study contributes scientifically by delving into the niche domain of highly skilled refugee entrepreneurship and societally by emphasizing the invaluable economic and innovative potential of this group. Practical implications suggest refined integration strategies and infrastructures to better harness their capabilities.","refugee entrepreneurship; highly skilled refugees; business incubators; local government collaboration; barriers to entrepreneurship; labor market integration; entrepreneurship","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:74a2d20c-6eb2-4316-8d1f-1f89a5f32f62","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:74a2d20c-6eb2-4316-8d1f-1f89a5f32f62","Strategies for Overcoming Barriers in the Biomass-to-Syngas Value Chain: A Solution-focused Approach in the Context of the Dutch Bio-based Chemical Sector","Lammers, Tom (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Korevaar, G. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Nanninga, Patrick (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Over the past decades, global efforts have been made to address climate change and improve the well-being of our planet. The European Union (EU) has set ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets and strategies to combat climate change. Bio-energy, specifically biofuels produced from biomass, has gained significant attention as a crucial component in decarbonizing energy and production systems. While renewable energy sources like solar and wind are primarily used for electricity generation, bio-based processes focus on producing biofuels for heat, power, transportation, and biochemistry sectors. Therefore, biomass can play a crucial role in decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries that are challenging to electrify, such as the chemical industry, heavy road transport, and marine and aviation sectors. However, the chemical industry, a major energy consumer and emitter of CO2, relies heavily on fossil fuels as feedstock and energy sources, necessitating a shift to carbon-free alternatives.
The biomass-to-syngas pathway, which involves converting biomass into bio-based syngas through gasification, has emerged as a promising solution for a more sustainable chemical industry. However, the development of this value chain faces technical and commercial challenges. Technical challenges include tar formation and product impurities, while commercial challenges include financing limitations, low market maturity, and sustainable feedstock availability. Moreover, handling and using biomass as a feedstock itself present constraints such as transportation limitations, variable composition and properties, low energy density, and high moisture and oxygen content. These challenges hinder the competitiveness of bio-based syngas production against fossil fuel alternatives and impede the development of the biomass-to-syngas value chain.
To address these challenges, the integration of torrefaction technology into the value chain has been proposed as a promising approach. Torrefaction enhances biomass densification, reduces moisture content, and improves the overall viability of the biomass-to-syngas value chain. However, the commercial implementation and economic feasibility of torrefaction remain uncertain. Additionally, research primarily focuses on technological improvements and lacks a deeper understanding of system integration, practical implementations, and stakeholder perspectives.
This research aims to bridge these knowledge gaps by actively engaging with stakeholders across the value chain to address the challenges of developing the biomass-to-syngas value chain and propose comprehensive solutions through stakeholder involvement. It explores the system integration of torrefaction technology, considering industry stakeholders' perspectives. The research employs a step-wise approach, focusing on an in-depth case study of the Dutch chemical industry. Data is collected through an exploratory literature review, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, a questionnaire, and a webinar serving as a panel discussion platform.
The research identifies 44 barriers hindering the development of the biomass-to-syngas value chain and the integration of torrefaction technology. These barriers primarily stem from deficiencies in innovation-specific institutions, network formation and coordination, and the production system. Stakeholders and experts agree that technological and logistical challenges can be overcome. However, addressing failures in innovation-specific institutions, such as the lack of economic and policy incentives and an unfavorable regulatory environment, is crucial for driving the development of the value chain. Based on these findings and insights obtained through expert reflection the research develops comprehensive solution statements and formulates five strategies to address the identified barriers, including cohesive policies, industry-tailored subsidies, standardized certifications and regulations, enhanced network formation, and decentralized torrefaction technology integration.
In conclusion, this research underscores the significance of the biomass-to-syngas pathway as a key driver for a sustainable chemical industry. By addressing technical and commercial challenges and the integration of torrefaction technology, comprehensive strategies have been formulated to overcome barriers and unlock the value chain's full potential. These findings thereby provide actionable insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders to drive the sustainable development of the biomass-to-syngas value chain.","Biomass gasification; Sustainability; Solution-focused Sustainability Assessment; Technological Innovation System (TIS); Value Chain Analysis; Torrefaction; stakeholder engagement; Chemical Industry","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a421bf0d-9fa4-4ef8-b60e-fcb2e72d3040","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a421bf0d-9fa4-4ef8-b60e-fcb2e72d3040","Modeling the Natural Decay of Delight in Product Attributes and its Impact on Customer Satisfaction","Kalia, Vaibhav (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Smit, A.C. (mentor); Hartmann, L. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This thesis explores the dynamics of customer satisfaction and its relationship with product attributes while modeling the natural decay of delight associated with these attributes. The research analyzes online reviews of Philips Airfryers to provide valuable insights for businesses aiming to enhance customer satisfaction and remain competitive in a dynamic marketplace.
The study offers several insights into the concept of the natural decay of delight, which refers to the diminishing satisfaction experienced by customers over time. It reveals that the availability of alternative products influences this decay, indicating that as more alternatives become available, the initial delight associated with a product tends to diminish. This understanding underscores the importance of managing customer satisfaction throughout the product life cycle.
The thesis delves into the impact of product attributes like capacity, repurchase intention, and value for money on customer satisfaction \footnote{Keywords: Capacity, Value for Money, Repurchase Intention, Total Alternatives, Airfryer, Customer Satisfaction, and Natural Decay of Delight.}. It identifies these attributes as significant factors affecting customer satisfaction levels. Capacity, when aligned with customer expectations, enhances satisfaction. A positive repurchase intention fosters greater satisfaction and brand loyalty. Moreover, customers perceiving good value for money report higher satisfaction. The study also explores the moderating role of external variables, such as the number of alternatives, in shaping these relationships, providing valuable insights into customer preferences and behavior.
Moreover, the research incorporates external factors, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, sales channels, and regional variations. These external influences are crucial in shaping customer satisfaction and require consideration in product management and marketing strategies.
The practical implications of the findings are significant for businesses. They emphasize the importance of understanding the natural decay of delight and managing product attributes to optimize customer satisfaction. By strategically considering moderating variables, companies can enhance their investments and overall customer satisfaction. Additionally, the study highlights the significance of adapting to changing market dynamics by incorporating external factors in product strategies.
In conclusion, this thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of customer satisfaction dynamics, product attributes, and external influences. The insights gained can guide businesses in developing effective strategies to manage customer satisfaction, adapt to market changes, and maintain a competitive edge. By understanding and addressing customer preferences and factors influencing satisfaction, businesses can optimize their efforts and drive success in today's fiercely competitive marketplace. Businesses should prioritize actively managing product attributes, continuously seeking customer feedback, and proactively adapting to evolving customer demands with the support of their data analytics teams. These actions aim to enhance overall customer satisfaction and foster loyalty.","CS - Customer Satisfaction; D2C - Direct-to-Customer; B2C - Business- to- Consumer; KANO - The KANO Model; KPI -Key Performance Indicator; WoM - Word of Mouth; RI - Repurchase Intentio; CL - Customer Loyalty; VoM - value for Money; UID - Unique Identification; SKU - Stock Keeping Unit; SA - Sentiment Analysis; Text Mining","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ed9f31cb-db05-468a-a1fd-e8193a8de41b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ed9f31cb-db05-468a-a1fd-e8193a8de41b","How do Organizational Structures impact Employee-Driven Innovation?","Lyppens, Yardèn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Sand, M. (graduation committee); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Organizations with different organizational structures organize innovation differently. Thus, it is likely that organizational structures impact employee-driven innovation (EDI) as well. This thesis researches this topic; the research question is: ‘How do different organizational structures impact employee-driven innovation?’. The research explores this question through interviews with employees, innovation managers, and consultants, leveraging their perspectives and expertise to discern optimal strategies for fostering EDI within different contexts. These insights reveal the intricate connections between organizational structures and EDI-supporting structures.
Based on the information, common relations between organizational structures and EDI-supporting structures are found. Furthermore, a taxonomy between the different organizational structures is created, and important factors within organizations are identified. Additionally, a taxonomy in EDI-supporting methods is identified. The thesis finds that the freedom of communication and autonomy within an organization relates to whether a structure is necessary to facilitate the ability of employees to communicate their ideas. The second most important factor is the importance of building community. In organizations where community building is a priority, the employees should be involved in the innovation process as much as possible. In organizations where community building is not a priority, events or innovation managers who preside over the innovation process are the better practice to support EDI.","Organizational Structures; Employee-driven innovation; Innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b4010d87-a4cc-45ae-8c30-e37111cc81fb","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b4010d87-a4cc-45ae-8c30-e37111cc81fb","Model-informed Charging Policymaking: How does modeling evidence influence EV charging infrastructure policymaking in the UK and the Netherlands?","GU, XIWEN (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pfenninger, Stefan (mentor); Veeneman, Wijnand (graduation committee); Gusheva, E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The establishment of a well-developed charging infrastructure is imperative for the broader adoption of Electric Vehicle (EV) and necessitates the formulation of an effective charging infrastructure policy. To navigate the intricacies involved in the policymaking process, the incorporation of EV charging models can be advantageous. Existing research indicates that models have a significant impact on facilitating policymaking in the broader energy sector. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether computer-based models exert a similar influence on the EV charging policies. Previous studies lack comprehensive insights into the practical application of models in EV charging policy processes and the resultant policy modifications due to the unique attributes of both EV charging models and policies. Furthermore, there exists a lack of systematic understanding regarding the utilization of charging infrastructure models. Given these gaps in knowledge, this research aims to investigate the following question: How does modeling evidence influence EV charging infrastructure policymaking in the UK and the Netherlands?
This study finds that EV charging models have exerted substantial influence across various stages of local policy cycles, significantly shaping decision-making processes. Such impact has pre- dominantly concentrated on the practical and operational aspects of the models, primarily concerning the optimal number and spatial distribution of charging points. However, there remains a noticeable lack of attention to strategic considerations pertaining to broader energy transition and green transport initiatives. This oversight is particularly evident in the insufficient exploration of how EV charging in- frastructure can be effectively integrated into a more extensive and long-term blueprint. This research highlights the need for a strategic-level approach to comprehend the interplay between EV charging networks and the larger energy transition agenda, encompassing themes such as renewable energy integration, smart grid compatibility and urban planning synergies. Consequently, policymakers and modelers should expand their planning of charging infrastructure to encompass the broader landscape and envision how EV charging models can harmonize with sustainable urban development, ensuring a cohesive and effective implementation within the overarching framework of environmental conservation and sustainable mobility.","EV charging; Model; Evidence-informed policymaking","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e3940ad4-9792-413e-967e-ace1a4b0b53c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e3940ad4-9792-413e-967e-ace1a4b0b53c","Towards an Assessment Framework for Inspection Strategies: Combining Risk-Based and Random Approaches in Food Safety Inspections","Ayaydin, Suzan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van der Voort, H.G. (mentor); van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Food safety inspections play an important role in the safety of consumers of food products. Even though food safety regulations have disciplinary power over food-related businesses, inspections are needed to ensure that regulations are followed for the well-being of consumers. Traditionally inspections did not have a goal of targeting higher risks. However, since 2004 EU regulations require all EU Member State inspectorates to follow a risk-based approach within their inspection plan. This is an effective way of inspecting and gives high results in catching violations. However, to be able to know what is happening in the overall industry representative results are needed, and performing inspections based on risks does not provide representativeness. Random inspections if performed in a representative way can provide this. Inspectorates are looking for ways to combine random and
risk-based inspections to get representativeness from risk-based approaches. To do this the inspection strategy might need to consist of a combination of random and risk-based approaches. The reason for this is to avoid bias that may result from performing risk-based inspections.
The main research question of this thesis therefore is: How can inspectorates adapt their inspection strategies to mitigate bias that results from risk-based inspections?
The exploration of how risk-based and representative inspections can be combined is aimed to
be supported with an investigation of methods that support this decision. This research aims to develop an assessment framework for evaluating such methods. In order to evaluate these methods, assessment criteria are needed that measure the methods appropriately. Since the reason to combine random and risk-based approaches is to reduce the assumed bias of risk-based inspections, there is a need to understand what bias is in risk-based inspections. Furthermore, to understand this, what risk means needs to be investigated. Therefore, the goal of the research is to find out how risk and bias affect the choice of inspection strategies, by investigating random and risk-based inspections and how these can be combined in order to leverage their advantages.
The stakes for organisational security have therefore never been higher. Current trends in coping with this new threat landscape are, among others, to increase oversight and ensure strict regulations, both via internal policy and external regulators. Extant literature also emphasises an increase in security spending, as well as technical measures to protect business assets. This paper proposes a framework for determining the maturity of security governance within organisations. Security governance is concerned with the alignment of business goals on the one hand and security goals on the other hand, i.e. working productively and working securely. Good governance would mean that both business- and security goals can be reached without conflicting interests; preferably even by complementing one another. The research argues that security governance consists of more than merely technical measures and punitive oversight. It also parts from existing views about how more security (spending, measures, policies, etc,) is better and how security is predominantly addressed in isolation. Instead, security governance should be in alignment with ’the business’ of an organisation. This brings forward the notion of security governance, as the alignment between security policies and business goals.
Literature has found that these two concepts can often be conflicting, as more security in most cases impacts productivity. Therefore, the concept of maturity is coupled with the research. Maturity emphasises the alignment between security goals and business goals. The research adopts both a conventional view of maturity, as well as a social view of maturity. The conventional view focuses on the effectiveness of security governance. A higher level of maturity indicates improving one or both of the pillars of governance, i.e. the contribution to business goals and security goals. This could mean working more productively/efficiently given certain security policies. Or - the other way around - working more securely whilst also doing projects efficiently. The social view focuses specifically on the way alignment between the two pillars of security governance is reached. It acknowledges that not all perceived governance problems in organisations have a single solution that can be imposed top-down. Instead, employees in organisations have to cope with different challenges and perceive issues related to security governance differently. The social view on maturity therefore argues that dialogue is required between a representative stakeholder group, with different viewpoints and expertise, whereby policies are drafted in concordance.
By means of a case study at Damen Naval - a large Naval shipbuilding organisation relying heavily on IP and bound by strict regulations - input was gathered regarding security governance in three individual security fields: ’access control’, ’data classification, and ’monitoring & incident response. Incorporating results from a literature review, individual interviews and
a focus group session, a framework was built with both a conventional assessment of security governance and a social aspect of how the alignment of policies (security- and business-related) can best be reached. The foundation of the framework consists of six dimensions of security governance:
1. Organisation-wide security and responsibility/accountability
2. Risk-based approach
3. Direction of acquisition and commitment of resources
4. Conformance with internal and external requirements
5. Security positive/conscious culture
6. Security performance measurement/alignment
These dimensions were used to guide and structure the individual interviews and led to a list of performance indicators. Each indicator steers on improving security (in terms of policy-setting) and/or productivity (in terms of contribution to business goals). The research showed that although the security fields were different from each other, most indicators could be applied to all the security fields, showing that the indicators are generalisable to an organisation-wide level. The indicators led to practical recommendations for security governance at Damen Naval. The most important takeaways are to better empower engineers in making decisions on data classification, as currently engineers feel uncomfortable in doing this due to the negative consequences of ’under classifying’, which leads to information being classified higher rather than lower. Also, performance expectations should be clear for employees and additional hours spent on dealing with security measures should not be absorbed by engineers. In line with this, more effort should be put into quantifying the total costs of imposed security measures, both direct and indirect. This will make current security policies better explainable or address issues that need to be improved.
The final stage of the research aimed at reaching concordance on security governance. This was researched via a focus group session in which the metaphor of a doctor-patient relationship about a negotiated treatment plan was used to see whether and to what extent this relationship would be possible in an organisation such as Damen Naval. Despite the fact that such a relationship is hard to pursue in a large organisation with multiple stakeholders as well as being limited in autonomy due to external legislators, the results indicate that concordance would be possible, although on different levels inter- and intra-organisational. Intraorganisational, this research suggests composing an organisational structure wherein employees of the business, ICT and security are represented to discuss matters that are related to security. The focus group session itself proved that this contributed to reaching alignment. Inter organisational, dialogue with external regulators should be pursued. Using the framework for security governance and the security performance indicators, potential misalignment can be determined systematically and a more comprehensive discussion can take place. Finally, future research could focus on improving the framework to enable a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) approach and to conduct a similar case study with the inclusion of an external regulator.
By applying a discrete event simulation (DES) to a case study regarding the construction of an offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, different scenarios have been evaluated and assessed in their resilience and performance in response to schedule changes. The findings highlight the importance of a compressed project schedule in achieving cost reductions. A strategy with approximately 75% overlap between load-in and load-out schedules was identified as the most cost-efficient approach. With this approach, cost savings are not only achieved by reducing operational expenses such as personnel and equipment rental, but most substantially by the decreased amount of demanded storage area spaces. With less storage spaces needed, both the construction costs for storage bunds and the area rental costs decrease. The analysis of the experiment on schedule overlap revealed that a scenario with only one support for load-out and zero supports for the load-in exhibited higher average waiting times and total maximum fines. However, this scenario still performed best in terms of total costs, as the waiting times for ships did not outweigh the expenses associated with additional supports. The study also examined the timing of arrivals and found that when a barge arrives the day after the installation vessel departs, the waiting time for unloading significantly decreases.
Collaboration among stakeholders is emphasized as a key recommendation stemming from the study. Involving all relevant actors in offshore wind projects from an early stage can yield extensive mutual benefits. By establishing an overarching supply chain management, coordinated by the project developer, overall construction costs can be reduced without harming any particular party.
The developed discrete event simulation might be applied to other projects to extend the research, under the requirement that the included assumptions are structurally evaluated. Investigating different project sizes, schedule variations and load-out methods could improve the overall understanding of the system dynamics and parameters. In combination with a discrete event simulation, a mathematical layout optimization might enable decision makers to make choices regarding the location and priority of placing wind turbine components in marshalling port, based on the installation variability. This could eventually lead to a decision-making tool suitable for cost-optimizing marshalling activities and installation strategies for wind farm constructions globally, contributing to the acceleration of the energy transition.","Discrete Event Simulation (DES); Marshalling port; Logistics; Monopile; Offshore wind farm; Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT); Installation vessel; Barge","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a2e95dc2-c22e-47df-90f9-6c6ca238fa82","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a2e95dc2-c22e-47df-90f9-6c6ca238fa82","Exploring the Relationships of Language Pattern, Math Anxiety, Self-esteem, and Curiosity","Dong, Xiaohan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Values Technology and Innovation)","Rook, L. (mentor); Lefter, I. (graduation committee); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Math Anxiety (MA) is some of the most notable mental health issues. The causes and development of MA are complex and inconclusive. This study highlighted that language patterns differ between people with high and low MA. Especially, the word categories positive emotion, insight, articles and linguistic dimensions. This study included two personality differences (self-esteem and curiosity) to better explore the inner world of people with high and low MA through their language patterns. Self-esteem and curiosity moderate the relationship between MA and people’s language patterns.
The study investigated four main topics to answer the research question: ‘How can a new product label support medical equipment manufacturers to sustainably enter the healthcare market of low- and middle-income countries?’. These are the value of product labels in the market, regulatory challenges faced by manufacturers in the MedTech industry, challenges for manufacturers in entering LMICs, and perception of manufacturers on the concept of AME label. A combination of desk research and qualitative interview was used to deduce the conclusion. Initially, a case study was conducted involving a medical equipment manufacturer based in the Netherlands, whose operations primarily targeted LMICs. The data was collected through one-to-one online semi-structured interviews with managers within this organization. The preliminary findings formed were later validated through survey and interviews conducted with a globally diverse sample size including industry and academic experts.
The results of the study indicated that the adoption of AME label has the potential to benefit manufacturers with enhanced brand value, increased visibility, improved credibility, and greater product transparency in their target markets. These factors can in turn build confidence and trust among LMIC stakeholders on AME-labeled products, opening doors for sustained business opportunities for manufacturers in these countries. By optimizing the product design towards the contextual requirements and including competitive product features, manufacturers could use the AME label as a differentiating factor in their sales. Subsequently, manufacturers could attain higher commercial value for their products and improved operating efficiency in the healthcare market of LMICs. At the same time, it is found that the introduction of the AME label could increase the complexity of the regulatory system. Manufacturers of all sizes face challenges while undergoing any regulatory process, adhering to regulatory norms, or undertaking any product label. This is unavoidable for manufacturers while supplying medical equipment across boundaries. Therefore, the inclination of manufacturers to adopt AME label depends on how effectively it streamlines the supply process, cuts administrative costs, reduces documentation work, and expedites the distribution of equipment to target countries.
Considering the novelty of the label, there are some concerns that could hinder the full-fledged adoption of the AME label by manufacturers. These concerns primarily revolve around the reliability and trustworthiness of the label. To overcome these concerns, the AME team should take into account the following aspects when implementing the label. They should carefully plan and execute steps to ensure that the label is recognized and accepted by authorized bodies like the UN, WHO, etc. It is equally important that measures need to be taken in the direction where the label is validated by all relevant stakeholders in LMICs. It is also essential to establish a clear positioning of the AME label within the regulatory system by highlighting the unique testing methods and distinctive tangible advantages it offers to the manufacturers compared to existing labels. By addressing these concerns, the widespread adoption of the AME label by medical equipment manufacturers could be achieved, leading to the availability of appropriate equipment in LMIC hospitals, and ultimately benefiting the patient groups within.","Health technology assessment; Medical equipment; LMICs; Labeling; Regulations; Adoption; Manufacturer; Incentives; Contextual Design; Challenges","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1383d0bb-96d2-4fa3-86b9-e8e5d59ecaac","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1383d0bb-96d2-4fa3-86b9-e8e5d59ecaac","Mobilisation of Private Investors in the Dutch Renewable Energy sector","Ólafsdóttir, Júlía (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Pesch, U. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The critical importance of investing in renewable energy to mitigate climate change cannot be overstated. Renewable energy projects are capital-intensive and risky. With this unbalanced risk and return profile, private-sector financial actors are often not in a position to fund these projects. Furthermore, the current magnitude of renewable energy financing is still low, particularly in comparison to the climate change mitigation goals set by policymakers. Because renewable energy investments fall short of what is needed, we can speak of an investment gap in renewable energy generation and technologies
This study centres on the (private and public) renewable energy investment gap in the Netherlands. The Netherlands was chosen since the literature lacks a comprehensive overview of the nation’s renewable energy financing. Furthermore, the Netherlands has not yet met its renewable energy targets which signifies the need for increased investments in the renewable energy sector. Government funding for renewable energy projects encounters certain constraints, primarily due to the Stability and Growth Pact, which dictates that EU members must maintain fiscal discipline, meaning that the government has to operate within a specific budgetary limit. Therefore, the private sector has a pivotal role to play in bridging the renewable energy investment gap. This shows the necessity for collaboration between the public and private sectors to mitigate climate change. Governments can use policy instruments to motivate or mobilise additional green investments by private financial actors.
Against this background, this master thesis investigates the following research question: How can the mobilisation of Dutch private investors in the renewable energy sector close the renewable energy financing gap?
To address this question, four deliverables are presented. Firstly, Chapter 2 offers a comprehensive literature review within the designated field. Secondly, Chapter 4 empirically estimates the investment gap in the renewable energy supply in the Netherlands. Thirdly, statistical analysis is used to investigate the relationship between private financing and public policies and financing. Comprehensive data collection was conducted for both public and private financing; specifically, a time-series database (2004-2022) has been constructed for green financing by major Dutch banks and pension funds, drawing on annual reports and sustainability reports published by these actors.
This third deliverable includes two sub-deliverables. Firstly, Chapter 5 presents a descriptive analysis of the Dutch renewable energy financial landscape, based on the database that has been created during this research. This analysis includes research on Dutch commercial banks with a sustainability index, an analysis of the green bond market, an analysis of renewable energy consumption in the Netherlands and public policies. Secondly, Chapter 6 presents a regression analysis performed to understand the relationship between private sustainable financing on the one hand, and public policy support and direct public investments on the other hand. This was conducted with the following statistical methods: an OSL regression, univariate regression, and factor analysis. The fourth deliverable presents a validation of the findings conducted in the literature review and the regression analysis. This validation was conducted through semi-structured interviews with experts in the renewable energy sector, including private financial actors, government policy experts and an expert in renewable energy generation. This deliverable is presented in Chapter 7.
The findings of this thesis report are as follows. The analysis of the investment gap in renewable energy supply in the Netherlands shows that a substantial step-up of 132% in investments towards renewable energy supply is required for the Netherlands to reach its committed decarbonisation targets consistent with the IPCC scenario of 1,5°C global warming. Moreover, when evaluating the investment requirements against the total economic investments, investments directed toward RE need to account for 10.4% to 12.5% of all total investments in the Dutch economy by 2025 to bridge the RE investment gap. This analysis shows a sharp increase in investment requirements from now until 2030; in contrast, the period from 2030 to 2050 may not require a drastic increase. This is based on the significant initial upfront capital required to cover the cost associated with the technology development as well as economic scaling up. However, before that can occur, an initial larger investment is required. After 2030, a slowdown of the investment requirements is based on the belief that the infrastructure will be established by then and the technologies will be mature and more efficient, lowering the cost. This analysed investment gap created the base for the research, showing the need to understand the financing landscape and the relationships between the financial actors and public policies.
Once the investment gap had been estimated, the focus of the research turned to understanding its underlying causes and potential solutions for this underinvestment. A comprehensive primary data collection began when data on private financing for specific financial actors in the Netherlands proved to be missing. The results derived from the created database are various. Firstly, a sustainability index for the Dutch banks was created. This sustainability index serves as a measure of each bank’s commitment to funding aimed to mitigate climate change, relative to their respective market size. Based on this sustainability index, the analysis reveals substantial differences between those banks. Triodos, with the least market share, scores the highest in sustainability while ING which allocates the largest figure
towards sustainability is ranked second last in regards to sustainability in the banking sector relative to its size. This highlights the importance of the bank’s commitment to sustainability, irrespective of its size. Secondly, in regard to the government, expenditures for mitigating climate change are mostly in the form of subsidies towards renewable energy projects. On average subsidies were 88,62% of the total government expenditures towards mitigating climate change. The largest subsidy fund is the Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie en Klimaattransitie (SDE++). Lastly, the research identified Dutch pension funds as the leading entity in the Netherlands’ green bond market. As of March 2023, these pension funds accounted for 53% of the country’s total green bond holdings. Moreover, they have shown an impressive increase of 286% in their green bond holdings from 2019 to 2023
The statistical findings show a positive effect of direct public financing on private financing in the Netherlands. More specifically, with a 10% increase in public financing, private financing increases by 6%. Monetary policies such as increased environmental taxation and low interest-rate lending positively affect private financing, or for a 10% increase in direct public policy support, private financing increases by 7%. Findings show that with increased renewable energy consumption, private financing increases. FITs and total energy consumption (including both renewable energy and non-renewable energy sources) show an inverse relationship with private financing, with a 10% increase in total energy consumption and price setting by FITs, the private financing decreases by 9,9%. The crucial findings emphasize the urgent need to mobilise private actors, who possess significantly more financial resources compared to the government, in mitigating the climate crisis in the Netherlands. Their active participation is essential for effectively addressing this pressing environmental challenge.
It is crucial to emphasize that, consistent with the literature review and validated by the interviews, the government does risk mitigation and helps to accelerate the renewable energy transition by subsidising heavily on the R&D phase. The Dutch government takes on the role of a market-shaping, rather than merely a market-fixing, as evidenced by their control over which technologies receive substantial subsidies. Furthermore, consistent with the literature review and validated by the interviews, the primary challenge for the Netherlands in implementing renewable technologies pertains to the commercialization phase. This phase, characterized by high-risk projects with inconsistent cash flow, simultaneously demands substantial capital investment. Financial stakeholders identify this as the Achilles heel in climate
change mitigation efforts.
Considering this vulnerability, a possible policy implementation might involve the government to alleviate the risks associated with the commercialization phase, attracting investors who are less inclined to risk, like pension funds, who possess significant capital. This could be achieved by assuring these investors that if they begin to invest in more high-risk projects, they would receive a portion of their investment back in the event of project failure, acting as a guarantee.
The Paris Climate Accords urges the importance for sustainability and the reduction of environmental impact. At the same time, the demand for animal protein is growing due to an increase in world population and changing diets, resulting in growing challenges regarding the environmental impact of the agricultural and livestock sector. Firms aim to provide technological solutions that contribute to a sustainable way of farming. One of the technological solutions that lack scientific research is the livestock feeding robot. This knowledge gap offers the opportunity to investigate measuring the sustainable performance of livestock feeding robots. Additionally, scientific literature describes Life Cycle Assessment as a common and fitting methodology to measure the environmental impact of products. Furthermore, firms want to become more sustainable for competitive advantage and to be able to meet future regulations. Measuring sustainability is essential in the transition towards sustainability because the measurement can provide insights for decisions about strategic planning, product design, and supply chain design. Therefore, this research examines how the Life Cycle Assessment methodology measures the environmental impact of a livestock feeding robot life cycle by executing a case study.
A literature review was conducted to gain more detailed information on the Life Cycle Assessment methodology and environmental impact. But also, to identify multiple types of Life Cycle Assessment methodologies. The Fast Track Life Cycle Assessment methodology was selected based on data availability and compatibility with the goal of the research t0 measure the environmental impact of a livestock feeding robot. Carbon Footprint and Eco-costs were selected as impact indicators due to their practical characteristics for firms. The case study resulted in a Carbon Footprint of 34944 kg CO2 equivalents, equal to the offset of 1588 mature trees existing for one year. Additionally, the Eco-costs results in 9192 euro, representing the required investment to lower the environmental impact to a sustainable level by selecting the best available alternative technology which is needed to meet the required level of emission allowances.
To conclude, this study provides a case study about measuring the environmental impact of a product life cycle. Although this study focuses on the assessment of a livestock feeding robot, the same case study design can be used to measure the environmental impact of similar products. Therefore, other firms can replicate the case study design to measure environmental impact and meet future regulations, as well as maintain or improve their competitive advantage.
This leads to the research question of the thesis and that is 'What can the National Capital Region of India learn from the Dutch cycling practices with the participation of key stakeholders?'. 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Dutch and Indian experts to collect relevant data. The Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) framework is used as the theoretical perspective in the thesis to analyze the data collected from the interviews and answer the research questions. The cycling success of Amsterdam and Copenhagen also helped in providing a conclusion and the results from the interviews are compared to see what India lacks when compared to the Netherlands with regard to the functions and structural dimensions of Technological Innovation Systems.
There were practical and meaningful insights from the findings of the research. The key ones which the Indian stakeholders can adopt are early learning for children, spreading awareness among people about cycling and its benefits, and political commitment. These factors mark the starting point for change and give the correct direction to the stakeholders to implement this change. It is imperative for children to learn about green transportation in their early life so they can understand numerous problems related to it like climate change and sustainability. This will also enable future generations to be more conscious and they will start demanding safe infrastructure for cycling. Politicians will then respond to public demands and create the necessary cycling infrastructure. Furthermore, policymakers can also adopt innovative ideas to make cycling a viable option for all social groups and try to change the perception of people towards cycling. The key findings from the research are interrelated in some or the other way as an action by a stakeholder can unfold an action by another stakeholder and hence collaboration among stakeholders is also necessary.
The research had variety of constraints. Due to various restrictions, primarily, the most relevant factors that influence the choice of transportation were determined. Only interviews with experts were conducted, however, interviews with other people who are not experts but want to cycle or cycle regularly would have offered new insights. Regarding future recommendations, the findings from this research can be used to establish a methodical approach on how to improve cycling utilization in the Indian capital region and identify the key elements that are currently lacking. Alternatively, instead of comparing the Indian capital to an advanced nation, it may be beneficial to do so with an emerging nation or a city as it would allow Indian decision-makers to better grasp the needs of the people and act with limited resources.","Cycling; Technological Innovation System (TIS); Transportation; Mobility; Policy; Adoption","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2aa6b0c0-44f7-4357-b57a-d31b119c7b63","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2aa6b0c0-44f7-4357-b57a-d31b119c7b63","The Impact of Communication on Project Performance: Considering Communication Media as a Crucial Aspect","Paulusse, Pieter (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Dolkens, T.L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The number of projects has increased immensely, as projects allow flexibility and can be widely applied. Even though that there has been an increase in the number of projects that are started, there is still a high number of projects that fail to meet the requirements. Project management has become an intensively researched topic, as it is an enabler for the enhancement of the success of projects. Effective communication has been identified as the most important factor contributing to the success of projects. Therefore this research aims to explore the effect of communication on project performance, with communication media as a critical aspect of cross-functional project teams, taking the contextual factors complexity and familiarity into account. The main research question that will be answered in this thesis is the following: What is the influence of communication media on the performance of cross-functional project teams? To answer this question, a thorough literature review has been conducted. The literature has served as the basis for the research. In order to determine whether a project can be deemed a success or a failure, a conceptualization of project performance was made based on the literature. This helped in assessing the performance of projects. Next, communication is dissected into two processes, conveyance, the process of exchanging new information, and convergence, the process of gaining a mutual understanding. For this research the contextual factors complexity and familiarity are taken into account. As information is exchanged, it is important to make a distinction of the information that is exchanged, as some information is complex and some is not complex. The complexity of information is a function of uncertainty and equivocality. Familiarity positively influences the relationship between communication and project performance as it enhances the quality of communication. With the basis known of communication, a dive was made into communication theories. The Media Richness Theory (MRT) was discussed, which discusses the richness of information and the ability of communication media to convey rich information. As an extension of this, the Media Synchronicity Theory (MST) was discussed, which explains the concept of synchronicity, and the ability of media to be synchronous. The last theory which was discussed is the Social Presence Theory (SPT), this theory explains the ability of media to express social presence. Social presence is an important aspect as it fosters trust and enhances the creation of relationships. Based on these three theories an analytical framework was created, that helps to create a media fit based on the characteristics of communication media and on contextual factors such as the complexity of the information exchanged and the familiarity. The analytical framework was used as the basis for the case analysis. The case analysis existed out of two sets of interviews with employees of the (Gas Mobility PRO) GMOB-PRO department of TotalEnergies and of an analysis of the Tanzania project, which is an advisory project. The interviews showed that there was a lack of structure at the GMOB-PRO department, this lack of structure resulted in working in silos, inadequate use of communication media, lack of trust within the department, and a lack of focus on projects that are not hydrogen related. In addition to this, a project was analyzed, the Tanzania project, the first advisory project. The results of the analysis clearly showed that email was the preferred communication medium, even when there is clarification is required. Next to this finding, clearly, the lack of focus on projects other than hydrogen was confirmed. By not using the proper communication media, the project was delayed as communication via email does not foster a rapid back-and-forth of information exchange. This resulted in an increase in cost as the quotations expired. To answer the main research question, communication has an indirect effect on project performance, as it can not directly influence project performance. Project performance is indirectly influenced by communication via aspects such as clarity and understanding, decision-making, team collaboration, resource allocation, and stakeholder engagement. If used properly, communication media enhances the effectiveness of communication, which indirectly affects project performance. Following the results of the literature, it is recommended for companies, such as TotalEnergies make use of clear structures for projects. Next to this, it is recommended to create awareness of the capabilities of communication media. By creating awareness of the communication processes, the characteristics of communication media, and the ability of communication media to convey information, individuals will be able to communicate more effectively, improve collaboration, and thereby increase the organization’s success. In addition to this, individuals can use the analytical framework as a tool to improve their communication efficiency.","Communication; Performance; Communication media; Project","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3364262f-36b5-40dc-836c-7f3430a50b77","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3364262f-36b5-40dc-836c-7f3430a50b77","Individual Competencies of A Sustainability Manager in Driving Innovation","Yovanka Elisabeth, Yovanka (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Doorn, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have emphasized the role of businesses in addressing global environmental and social challenges. As a result, companies are increasingly focusing on sustainability and integrating sustainable development goals into their business models. However, this transition presents complex and uncertain challenges, often referred to as wicked problems, as they involve multiple stakeholders with competing values. The complexity of sustainability challenges requires businesses to stimulate innovation and adapt their business models to be more inclusive, environmentally friendly, and innovative. In addition, managing innovation for sustainability is challenging, as it demands specific competencies and the ability to engage in broad activities by driving innovation for sustainable competitive advantage.
Previous research has made significant strides in examining competencies that are essential for leaders in addressing sustainability challenges and promoting innovation. However, there is still a lack of clarity regarding the specific competencies that leaders in companies should possess to tackle sustainability challenges and drive innovation effectively. The challenge lies in establishing a solid understanding of the relationship between sustainability competencies and their role in solving organizational sustainability issues. Consequently, the primary goal of this study is to investigate how managerial competencies can drive innovation for sustainability within organizations. By establishing this research objective, a corresponding research question was formulated.
How do individual sustainability competencies drive innovation for sustainability?
In order to address the question at hand, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to gain an understanding of the various definitions of innovation, the explored sustainability competencies, the role of leadership in sustainability innovation, and the existing arguments regarding competencies and innovation in prior studies. The insights obtained from the literature review were then used to formulate specific research questions, which guided the study's approach of utilizing semi-structured interviews to gather relevant data. Thirteen individuals representing three distinct industries were selected to participate in the interviews, sharing their experiences and perspectives on the subject matter. Following data collection, the gathered information was coded and analyzed, focusing on identifying common themes based on a similar context.
The study provides valuable insights into the fields of management and innovation by highlighting the significance of possessing diverse sustainability competencies for managers. These competencies play a crucial role in shaping the innovation capabilities of managers, thereby acting as a bridge in enhancing innovation and expanding organizational capabilities. The research identifies three distinct patterns that emerge as a result: organizational learning capabilities, collaboration capabilities, and stakeholder engagement capabilities.
Firstly, individual competencies such as system thinking, future thinking, tech competencies, and continuous learning enhance knowledge on an individual level, necessitating organizations to develop their own organizational learning capabilities to integrate and benefit from these competencies. Secondly, competencies such as emotional empathy, embracing diversity, and interpersonal skills contribute to collaboration capabilities at the organizational level, fostering better communication, positive relationships, and innovative solutions. Lastly, competencies related to stakeholder engagement, such as integration, influencing, and practical communication, empower individuals to drive the adoption of sustainability in innovation projects, facilitating effective communication with customers and involving diverse actors in decision-making processes. These patterns are developed when managers actively engage in collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders and involve them in sustainability innovation activities on an ongoing basis.
While the study primarily explores individual competencies, the discussion highlights the significance of organizations in fostering a supportive environment and establishing routines that enable individuals to effectively utilize their competencies in driving innovation. Therefore the study also delivered a framework targeted to individual and organizational management to enhance sustainability competencies at the individual level. Managers are encouraged to engage in industry-specific training programs actively, embrace a dynamic mindset that promotes continuous learning and the adoption of emerging best practices, and possesses intrinsic motivation, where individuals are driven by personal values and a desire to contribute to a better future. Simultaneously, at the organizational level, effective communication of sustainability objectives require to be delivered. At the same time, it is crucial to implement sustainability initiatives throughout all project levels of the organization. Lastly, through the recruitment process, organizations should prioritize candidates whose competency profiles align with the organization's sustainability strategies.","Sustainability; Organizational; Leadership; Competencies; innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:89b9189e-f610-4661-807c-827f7b39a966","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:89b9189e-f610-4661-807c-827f7b39a966","Industry 4.0 and workplace inclusivity: Assessing the effect of institutions on the implementation and use of robots to employ a diverse workforce","Castellano, Vincenzo (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Werker, C. (mentor); Santoni De Sio, F. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The increasing use of robots in the workplace presents a valuable opportunity to diversify the workforce by including underrepresented groups such as ethnic minorities and the elder population. However, high unemployment among these social groups shows that the opportunity to boost inclusivity and diversity is not grasped. Seizing this opportunity presents several challenges, especially since diversity can complicate the innovation process.
Innovation is a complex multifaceted process influenced by numerous factors, among which formal and informal institutions. Formal institutions are written rules such as laws, standards and obligations, while informal institutions are unwritten rules, such as social and cultural norms, that shape people's perceptions and behaviors. Diversity can be related to social groups holding peculiar norms/beliefs that can conflict with other social norms or regulations. The role of formal and informal institutions in diversity and inclusion initiatives has been largely overlooked in the HRI literature, but existing studies suggest that institutions play a crucial role in enabling/hampering inclusion and diversity through technology.
In this research, I make use of qualitative research and the RRI approach to analyze the complex socio-technical system in which robots are implemented and used in the real-world context of the KLM baggage handling facilities at Amsterdam Airport.
The aim of this study is to build grounded theory through the analysis of the impact that institutions have on the implementation and utilization of robotic technology in the employment of a workforce that is diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, and race.
The research question guiding the research is: “How do formal and informal institutions shape the implementation and use of robots at work aimed at including a diverse workforce?”
This research question aims at tackling two different aspects of deploying robots at work: implementation and utilization.
The focus on implementation pertains to the analysis of the process by which a diverse workforce is included or not in the deployment of robots in the workplace, and the role that institutions play in shaping this process.
The focus on utilization pertains to the analysis of the role that institutions play in shaping the ability and willingness of a diverse workforce to use robots in the workplace.
When it comes to the implementation of robots at work, results show that if there are no formal institutions in place to include a diverse workforce in the implementation process, then informal institutions, such as a willingness to use technology, play a prominent role in determining the likelihood that diverse workforce will be included in the process or not.
In the Dutch context, factors like age or ethnic diversity do not affect the positive perception of robots at work and willingness to use technology, thus these diverse identities do not influence the participation of the diverse workforce in the implementation of robots at work.
When it comes to the utilization of robots, diversity plays both a direct and indirect role.
The direct role is related to formal institutions, for instance standard requirements to operate the robot, that may exclude certain ethnic/race groups with different physical characteristics from using the robot.
An example of physical characteristics that play a role in the Dutch context are the average height and left-handedness.
The indirect effect pertains to the influence of age diversity within the workforce on the formation of informal institutions, such as social norms. Members of the age diverse workforce may hold positions of opinion leadership within the workplace, enabling them to shape the opinions of their colleagues with regard to the use of robots. This, in turn, can influence the utilization of robotic technology by the workforce as a whole.
This study has both strong practical and theoretical implications.
From a practical standpoint, this study provides valuable insights for organizations seeking to employ a diverse workforce through the use of robotics. The findings highlight the importance of carefully considering both the practical and social implications of this approach, including the need to take into account the physical requirements of a diverse workforce and the potential influence of diversity on the formation of social norms within the workplace.
From a research perspective, this study highlights the suitability of the \acs{RRI} approach as a conceptual tool for HRI research to assess the socio-technical systems in robotics is used for diversity and inclusivity purposes.
Future research could focus on analyzing the interactions between formal and informal institutions and other diverse identities, such as gender, in the context of implementing robots in the workplace. The main limitations of this study pertain to the limited number of participants and the lack of generalizability to SMME. These firms have different organizational structures and limited financial and intellectual resources, thus, when employing a diverse workforce, they may face considerably different challenges when implementing robotic technology in the workplace.","industry 4.0; EDI; Inclusivity; employment; Robotics; HRI; RRI; RRI approach; diversity; age diversity; ethnic diversity; baggage handling; Schiphol; KLM","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e402da11-57a2-4fd9-9ece-c1c99a81f775","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e402da11-57a2-4fd9-9ece-c1c99a81f775","Assessing the Impact of Tokenized Financial Assets on Blockchain for Start-Up Fundraising and the Significance of Decentralized Governance","Lee, Maikel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Correljé, A. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van Bergem, R. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This research investigates the potential impact of blockchain based start-up crowdfunding. The emergence of blockchain and cryptocurrencies paved the way for a more decentralized finance system which offers alternative funding opportunities for start-ups. The scope of the research is to analyze the benefits and drawbacks of blockchain based crowdfunding for start-ups, and how it could impact the traditional financing models. The study adopts a qualitative research approach in which the Institutional Analyses and Development framework was consulted to find the key research concepts for the case studies. The research was conducted by analyzing data from blockchain protocols that consult their communities for important the decision making within its ecosystem. The findings suggest that blockchain based crowdfunding allows to raise funds for start-ups from a broader pool of investors, without the necessity to tap into the ecosystem that Silicon Valley offers, and a potential faster funding method than traditional methods. However, there are some concerns regarding trust and transparency with crowdfunding. The research found that adopting dequity, which is a new financial asset that combines both properties of debt and equity, can increase transparency and trust for the investors, while granting the crowd investors more control. The proposed solution is a dequity token with a governance that has quadratic voting, a voting multiplier and locking a large portion of the raised funds during the crowdfund. Overall, the research suggests that blockchain based crowdfunding can offer new opportunities for entrepreneurs to raise capital, in an inclusive manner, without the need of venture capitals or banks.","Cryptocurrencies; Blockchain; Bitcoin; Ethereum; Polkadot; Dequity; Financial assets; Crowdfunding; Crowdfund; Williamson; Finance; Innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:888eb3b9-10f0-426a-a12b-1fa1de78191e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:888eb3b9-10f0-426a-a12b-1fa1de78191e","Sustainability Assessment of a Sustainable Innovation for the Aviation Industry: Case Study of Bio Composites for Aircraft Interiors","Żarnowska, Agata (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; Collins Aerospace)","Lieu, J. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Castillo Gonzalez, A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The current impact of the aviation industry on climate change poses little choice for aviation companies but to invest in sustainability. One way to do this is to develop and implement sustainable innovations in aircraft. However, the question is how it can be validated whether an innovation is sustainable. To do so, this research uses sustainability assessment methodologies and investigates, how the integration of sustainability assessment tools can support the decision-making process regarding investment in sustainable innovation. It presents the methodology for the sustainability assessment of sustainable innovation for aircraft while using two tools - Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). The first one is to assess the environmental impacts of an innovation, the second one is to determine its financial and also social implications.
The chosen sustainable innovation, upon which the case study is developed and the methods are tested, is the bio composite material for usage in aircraft interiors. In particular, the viability of replacing conventional composites in Boeing 787-8 aircraft business class seats with bio composites is considered. The thesis is conducted in collaboration with Collins Aerospace, which is the manufacturer of products for aircraft. Before realizing sustainability assessment, the technology is analysed using theoretical frameworks. In particular, the analysis is developed on technology drivers, challenges, and the current stage of development in the aviation and automotive industry. After that, the specific bio composite suitable for aircraft interior - geopolymer panel created in an EU project - is chosen for further sustainability assessment. Next, the case study includes the environmental assessment (comparative, fast-tracked LCA) and economic assessment (CBA) of the chosen material. The LCA concludes that usage of the bio composite reduces the carbon footprint and energy requirement by 38%; however, increases water consumption by 47%. The result from CBA is that due to the lower weight of bio composite material, an airline can save €3382±338 on 1 out of 18 business class seats during 5 years of aircraft operation; hence, this is by how much ’bio seat’ can be more expensive to be still profitable. Therefore, the case study proves that bio composites might be better than conventional composites from an environmental and economic point of view.
The case study presents that sustainability assessment provides information valuable for the decision-making process. Integrating environmental and economic assessment shows a bigger picture and broadens the perspective. Additionally, the analysis of technology based on theoretical frameworks provides important insights for both, decision-making and sustainability assessment. Also, the integration of LCA and CBA tools is concluded to be suitable for this purpose and the methodology is described. The problems associated with such tools combination are discussed, where double-counting is the challenge discovered in the study. In addition, the issues stated in the literature are evaluated, and the propositions on how these challenges can be overcome are indicated.","Sustainability Assessment Methodology; Bio Composites; Aviation; Decision-making; Life Cycle Assessment; Cost Benefit Analysis; Aircraft Interiors","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f5fa50d9-94fb-4067-a40a-a2cb1423ddb1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f5fa50d9-94fb-4067-a40a-a2cb1423ddb1","The Impact of Vocal Communication and its Personalization on Intention to Use of Chatbots Using Behavioral Activation to Support Patients Experiencing Depression","Doan, Kevin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Metoui, N. (mentor); Ding, Aaron Yi (graduation committee); Scholz, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The 21st century has seen a significant increase in the global prevalence of mental health problems, affecting almost a billion people. These conditions not only reduce the quality of life for individuals but also lead to stigmatization, discrimination, and social isolation. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated mental health issues, with depression and anxiety becoming the most common mental disorders among young workers. However, encouraging young adults to seek help for mental health is challenging.
To address this issue, the concept of digitalizing psychotherapies through mental health chatbot services is proposed as a potential solution. Giving the chatbot a voice to communicate is suggested to increase perceived trust and intention to use among users. A research question is posed: ""How does vocal communication and its personalization in chatbots affect the intention to use of young adults with depression?""
The study conducted an online survey using Qualtrics with three groups of participants: the control group (text-based communication) and two treatment groups (vocal communication, and personalized vocal communication). The chatbot followed a rigid script based on a psychotherapy protocol called behavioral activation. Data analysis involved Mann-Whitney U tests, ordinal logistic regression, and one-way ANOVA for randomization check.
Findings from the study indicated that chatbots communicating through speech did not significantly influence trust compared to text-based chatbots. Personalization of the voice did not increase trust based on emotions and even negatively affected cognitive trust. Both cognitive and affective trust were positively associated with the intention to use chatbots. Cognitive trust indirectly mediated the relationship between personalized vocal communication and intention to use.
The study contributed to existing literature by exploring the adoption of conversational agents for mental health support, focusing on young adults with depression. It also provided insights into the use of speech in chatbots and the impact of personalization on trust and chatbot adoption. Additionally, the study shed light on the adoption of mental health chatbots in developing countries, which lack access to healthcare.
From a managerial and societal standpoint, the study's findings have implications for companies developing chatbots for mental healthcare. The insights gained can improve the design of mental health chatbots, potentially easing the burden on mental health professionals and contributing to long-term societal well-being. Moreover, the study highlights the potential benefits of chatbot accessibility for users in developing countries with limited access to healthcare.
Overall, the research provides valuable knowledge about the adoption of chatbots for mental health support, voice communication, personalization, and its implications for various demographics and regions. It also raises ethical considerations, particularly regarding gender-based biases when using gender-specific voices for chatbots.","chatbot; depression; trust; adoption; intention to use; voice; speech; personalization; factorial design; between-subjects; survey design; design science; affective trust; cognitive trust; young adults; Mann-Whitney U test; ordinal logistic regression; behavioral activation; anthropomorphism; conversational agent; Quantitative analysis; healthcare; interaction effect; mediation; ChatGPT","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:88107e9b-c62d-4153-805d-e68de55266d8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:88107e9b-c62d-4153-805d-e68de55266d8","Breaking the Concrete Ceiling: Unveiling Perspectives and Pathways to Gender Diversity and Equity in the Construction Industry","van Eeghen, Jet (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Lieu, J. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Feenstra, M.H. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","b>Background
This research is initiated to investigate the underrepresentation of women in technical occupations, particularly in the male-dominated field of the construction industry. The Netherlands is a country where this gender gap has been observed, with a significant disparity in the representation of women in the industry. Despite the recognized importance of gender diversity and equity in promoting gender equality and empowerment, there is a lack of comprehensive frameworks that address these issues within organizations.
Purpose and methodology
This study aims to enhance understanding of gender diversity and equity in the workplace, particularly focusing on challenges faced by women in the Dutch construction industry. It seeks to offer insights and recommendations for promoting gender diversity by examining different organizational roles. The research contributes to existing literature, informs company diversity initiatives, and provides insights applicable to similar industries. The objective is to explore perceptions, challenges, and opportunities related to gender diversity within Strukton Rail from the perspectives of employees, top management, and HR partners. This is achieved through a combination of methods including interviews, questionnaires, and observations, enriched by the researcher's unique position as a Strukton Rail employee, allowing comprehensive exploration of the organization's culture, practices, and policies.
Findings and Recommendations
This research explores gender diversity and equity perspectives within Strukton Rail. Different roles (employees, top management, and HR) have varying viewpoints. There's recognition of a male-dominated culture, but differing acknowledgment of its impact on female employees. Some top management members claim gender-blindness but exhibit underlying biases. Work-life balance is valued by employees, especially female employees, while management prioritizes operational needs. Biases may affect perceptions of adaptability and caregiving roles. To address challenges, management commitment is crucial, involving a gender diversity vision, bias challenge, and clear women's representation goals. Open dialogue is vital for understanding diverse perspectives and driving change. Compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is also highlighted.
Practical Implications
The description of the framework for organizational change provides organizations in the construction industry with a way to assess the gender diversity and equity status within their organization. This can aid in challenging and assessing challenges that hinder the inclusion and retention of women within the industry.
Value
This research describes an approach to understand organizational factors influencing gender diversity and equity in the construction industry. In present a novel framework that can shed light on the gender diversity and equity within an organization and can be the blueprint for organizational change. The value of this research is rooted in the ethnographic methodology, combined with the case study design. Combined with the dual position of the researcher as both employee and researcher, highly in-depth, contextual data forms the basis of this research.","Gender Diversity; Gender Equity; Construction Industry; Rail Industry","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ec07d7a5-06cf-4615-8643-497e656bd0e7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ec07d7a5-06cf-4615-8643-497e656bd0e7","Employee Driven Green Innovation","Damen, Ritchie (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Gammon, A.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b1afe7a6-da11-4faf-bcff-817dd66a4304","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b1afe7a6-da11-4faf-bcff-817dd66a4304","Catch The Phish: A Study On Decision-making and Reporting Behavior For Phishing Attacks","Bahl, Robin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Parkin, S.E. (mentor); Lieu, J. (mentor); van Eeten, M.J.G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Addressing the growing problem of phishing attacks requires nurturing a reporting culture within organizations. This research examines the factors influencing reporting behavior and the role of infrastructure & support in enhancing reporting rates. By adopting a mixed methods approach and analyzing phishing simulation logs and user perspectives, the study utilizes the COMB model to identify key factors that affect reporting behavior. The research emphasizes the importance of reassessing the desired level of reporting to ensure the benefits of reporting do not overshadow the associated costs. To foster a reporting culture, organizations should ensure a user-friendly reporting process and offer regular reminders and training programs. Emphasizing communication, transparency, and trust-building are vital in encouraging reporting and providing timely feedback. Leveraging technology to optimize the reporting process and appreciating users' efforts further enhance reporting rates. Overall, embracing a paradigm shift that recognizes users as part of the solution is crucial in nurturing a reporting culture and ensuring a secure digital environment.","Cybersecurity; Phishing attacks; Reporting culture; Cybersecurity awareness; COMB Model; Infrastructure and support; User Perspectives","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:595ceb6b-a453-47bc-9fe1-5b5ff58495fd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:595ceb6b-a453-47bc-9fe1-5b5ff58495fd","Digital Employee Driven Innovation in Construction Engineering","Uitermarkt, Stefan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Sand, M. (graduation committee); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This thesis focuses on driving innovation in organizations by involving employees in the innovation processes. Emphasis is laid on the involvement of ICT and the organizational climate in stimulating the innovative behavior of employees to create more innovativeness in the organization. The thesis holds a case study at a large-sized multinational in engineering & consultancy, from which qualitative research has been conducted through the use of a survey. The focus of the study is on construction engineering, a sector that has shown signs of stagnating growth through a lack of innovativeness. Through the qualitative analysis and based on the findings, a model is proposed on how employee-driven innovation can be managed in construction engineering in order to stimulate innovation in this sector.","innovation; EDI; ICT; Organizational climate","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4ba1cd76-be76-4895-9d43-4d8b7840a949","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4ba1cd76-be76-4895-9d43-4d8b7840a949","Enhancing Business Data Sharing in the Supply Chain Domain: A Framework of Infrastructural and Institutional Instruments","Abbineni, Rishika (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Zuiderwijk, AMG (mentor); Veeneman, Wijnand (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Effective data sharing plays a pivotal role in optimizing supply chain management and driving the operational excellence of businesses. However, certain barriers and challenges exist among the supply chain partners in communication and data exchange. This thesis investigates these barriers and proposes potential solutions, referred to as instruments, for data sharing in supply chains. The objective is to develop and validate a framework that addresses feasible barriers in high-tech supply chain organizations. Single case study interviews in a high-tech supply chain firm assess the framework's applicability, followed by a validation phase to test its generalizability. Infrastructural instruments include ICT, Blockchain, AI, ML, data standardization, and data security measures. Institutional instruments encompass cultural factors, trust-building techniques, contractual agreements, education and training programs, leadership practices, and ethical data sharing. The research contribution extends to a strategic deployment plan for these instruments, offering valuable insights to supply chain professionals. Additionally, the research emphasizes the significance of viewing risk as a comprehensive concept in relation to trust, technology, privacy, and governance-related barriers.
The core objective of this study is to scrutinize the impact of governance and decision-making practices in the Regional Energy Strategy of Rotterdam The Hague (RES-RDH) on energy justice principles. It seeks to define and understand the concepts of ’local ownership’ and ’equitable participation' within the RES-RDH context. By exploring ways to incorporate energy justice principles into decision-making processes, this research aims to create a comprehensive reference tool to guide the region’s energy transition towards fairness and equity.
The investigation employs a literature review, policy document analysis, and interviews to address the main research question and its four sub-questions. The sub-questions focus on defining equitable participation and local ownership in the RES-RDH context, understanding the influence of institutional governance on these aspects, identifying specific challenges in organizing equitable participation, and exploring how energy justice principles can enhance decision-making processes. The findings collectively answer the main research question and contribute to the final reference tool’s development.
The theoretical framework incorporates elements of energy justice and public decision-making, enabling a thorough exploration of the equitability and inclusivity of RES- RDH’s decision-making processes. It examines equitable participation, local ownership, and energy justice principles through theoretical lenses, emphasizing the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders, ensuring local community involvement, and balancing power dynamics...
This research aims to fill this gap by examining the perceived impact of adopting agile methodologies in technology-driven projects within asset management firms in the Netherlands through a qualitative study using thematic analysis through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The study aimed to gain insights into the reasons, challenges, benefits, success criteria, and key factors influencing project success in the context of agile implementation. Through interviews with experienced agile team members, valuable insights were obtained. It was found that agile methodologies are not the sole cause of project success, as success is influenced by a combination of factors. Agile methodologies empower teams to adapt and respond to changing circumstances, providing a solid foundation for handling challenges and embracing positive change. The research highlights the importance of having the right people with the right mindset and behaviour in key positions within the organisation. Teamwork and acceptance of other contributing factors are at the core of agile methodologies. Agile provides a framework for effective collaboration and flexibility, enabling organisations to leverage its benefits and improve project outcomes. The findings emphasise the need for alignment between the organisation's culture and the principles of agile methodologies. It is crucial to create an environment that fosters teamwork, encourages open communication, and supports continuous improvement.
The research findings reveal that asset management firms adopt Agile methodologies in technology-driven projects for various reasons, such as increased flexibility, faster delivery cycles, improved collaboration, and better adaptation to changing requirements. However, challenges related to resistance to change, stakeholder alignment, and the need for continuous learning and skill development were identified. Despite these challenges, the perceived benefits of Agile were evident, highlighting its ability to enhance project outcomes. The criteria used to measure project success in technology-driven projects within asset management firms encompass a combination of quantitative and qualitative factors. While meeting project timelines and budgets was important consideration, other success indicators included customer satisfaction, quality of deliverables, stakeholder engagement, and adherence to project goals. This multidimensional approach to measuring success reflects the complex nature of technology-driven projects in the asset management sector. The research identifies several key factors that influence project success in technology-driven projects within asset management firms. These factors include effective teamwork, strong leadership, clear communication, stakeholder involvement, and the alignment of project goals with organisational objectives. The findings emphasise the critical role of these factors in overcoming challenges and ensuring successful project outcomes in the asset management industry. The experiences and perspectives of agile team members shed light on their perception of best practices for using agile methodologies in technology-driven projects. They emphasise the importance of continuous improvement, transparency, and adaptability in Agile adoption. A supportive organisational culture, ongoing training and development, and effective collaboration between team members and stakeholders are identified as crucial elements for the successful implementation of agile practices. These insights from agile team members provide valuable guidance for optimising the use of agile methodologies in technology-driven projects within asset management firms.
The research concludes that agile methodologies, when implemented effectively and supported by the right organisational culture and mindset, can significantly enhance project success in technology-driven projects within asset management firms. It is recommended that organisations invest in developing and nurturing the necessary skills, behaviours, and mindset to fully leverage the potential of agile methodologies. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing insights into the perceived impact of agile methodologies in the specific context of asset management firms. The findings can guide organisations in making informed decisions regarding the adoption and implementation of agile methodologies to enhance project outcomes.
A literature review has been conducted on the success factors and barriers of agile implementation in the hardware environment. Furthermore, the benefits and challenges of the use of agile are investigated and an overview is created. Moreover, a qualitative research approach is used to dive into the perceptions and best practices of agile by doing a case study with multi-person interviews at a large hardware development company. The findings of the success factors, barriers, benefits, and challenges are identified and compared with the literature. Remarkably, the success factors and barriers are difficult to see independently of each other, as they are often linked and can reinforce one another.
The way of implementing and using the agile method must match the company and the people. For the implementation, the mindset of the people should be right in place and the pilot can show if the proposed way of working is right. For the use, it is of significant value that besides the people aspect, the tools, and organizational structure are aligned. Also here, the rituals, prototyping, training, and way of specialization should match the company and the teams. The findings of this thesis can be used as a guideline to implement and use the agile methodology in large-scale hardware companies.","Agile; Hardware; Implementation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:584c8ed0-f0d7-4fb5-b9fb-3071f33fc9e7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:584c8ed0-f0d7-4fb5-b9fb-3071f33fc9e7","The Business Ecosystem of the Quantum Computing Market: Cooperation and Competition","Rot, Pepijn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Hartmann, L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The current second quantum revolution heralds the biggest technological advancements of the twenty-first century. At the forefront of this is the development of quantum computers, which promise to bring transformations to almost all sectors, from banking to drug research. With rising investments in developing full-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, the quantum computing provider market is starting to saturate with incumbents. In order to succeed, firms operating in this market need to start acting competitively. However, despite vast research on the potential applications, technological development and responsible innovation, little is known about strategic factors that drive the market.
To address this issue, this work identifies, describes and contextualises the use of alliances in firms’ business strategy in the quantum computing business ecosystem. Through literature review, publications of various types of collaborations on firms's websites, and interviews with four experts in the industry, the work describes the quantum computing business ecosystem, links the cooperations to literature on strategies, and provides contextual implementations of various alliances.
First, a value proposition is constructed, containing five components: Hardware providers, cloud service providers, quantum software providers, managed services providers and end-users, each with its own set of challenges and strategies attached to it. Furthermore, two technology strategies pursued by firms can be identified: an open innovation approach and a full-stack approach. The use of various types of collaborations are described, including licensing, standards agreements, business networks, joint marketing, selling and offering agreements, consortia, strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures.
For SMEs, alliances through bidding consortia, formed for tenders and subsidies, are the main use of cooperation. Strategies herein are the acquisition of capital, reduction of R\&D costs, early product show-off, and staying in the loop for technological decision making on standards. Other partnerships are aimed at figuring out relationships with other firms in the industry, and fostering standardisation through the release of open-source software. The former is characteristic of the nascent ecosystem's formation, as the value proposition is still unclear and the industry's architecture is not set. The use of open-source software has also played a key role in the development of the classical computer, and firms are seen to adhere to a similar approach. Furthermore, we contextualise the strategic differences between the full-stack and open innovation approaches that are seen within the ecosystem. Where firms in the former are challenged by technical inflexibility, low sales volume and vast investment costs, firms in the latter need to balance an appropriability-adoption dilemma, create sufficient alignment with their value proposition and use extensive cooperation to ensure compatibility and modularity. However, through this, they get to enjoy increased economies of scale and agility.
All in all, the strategies can be summarised in two main categories: procurement of resources and embedding into the ecosystem. The work in this thesis encompasses a multitude of related fields including competitive strategy, ecosystems and alliances, and discusses the quantum computing industry from the standpoint of the technology providers and developers, which should aid managers in evaluating their strategic position in the ecosystem and in drafting cooperation strategies. From an academic perspective, this work provides the first managerial study of the quantum computing market from the standpoint of the technology providers. In addition to strategies, it identifies a lack of alignment of end-users as a key inhibitor to the constitution of the value proposition. Moreover, the findings of this thesis support the hypothesis that pre-adaptation-phase strategies are aimed at constituting Ortt and Kamp's technological innovation system (TIS) framework's building blocks, an important step to understanding ecosystem formation dynamics.
Lastly, we identify several key areas for future studies. This includes validating and strengthening the conclusions of this work through additional expert interviews, which should also help in exposing nuances in strategy between firm sizes, position in the value chain and geolocation, as well as similarities and differences with the development of the classical computer. Furthermore, future studies are suggested to investigate the differences in efficiency and effectiveness of governmental funding in the quantum industry, characterise end-users based on their expected moment of engagement with the quantum computing market, the role of alliances in quantum computing platform formation, and the link between innovation-phase strategies and the TIS framework's building blocks.","Strategic Management; Quantum Computing; Ecosystems; Alliances; Coopetition","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-07-13","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:928f9315-d63f-49c5-8ce9-21804fbc17c8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:928f9315-d63f-49c5-8ce9-21804fbc17c8","Digital transformation in traditional companies: Combining ambidexterity and dynamic capability perspectives","Versteeg, Max (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Smit, A.C. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Organizations that do not embrace digital transformation may find themselves falling behind on competitors and losing out on potential innovation and growth opportunities. As the business environment is changing at an unprecedented pace, it is becoming increasingly important to balance continuity and change to achieve long-term success. By employing a qualitative case study design including semi-structured interviews with twelve employees across different hierarchical levels and business units, this thesis aims to serve a threefold objective. Firstly, it aims to determine the main barriers to digital transformation for traditional organizations. Secondly, it will elaborate on how ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities can be applied in the context of digital transformation. Lastly, the research integrates both perspectives and derives success factors that can guide traditional organizations towards successful digital transformation. The following main research questions has been formulated to guide the research:
What are the barriers to digital transformation in traditional organizations such as COMPANY and how can ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities be applied to overcome these barriers and thus pave the way for successful digital transformation?
The barriers to digital transformation are categorized based on their level of origin and their barrier category. Levels of origin include intra-level, inter-level, and meta-level. The intra-level refers to interactions that occur inside an organization, inter-level interactions refer to interactions between an organization and external actors, and meta-level interactions are high level and involve policy-makers and governments. Findings show that the most prominent barriers for COMPANY are knowledge and skills, organizational, and cultural barriers on the intra-level and technological and environmental barriers on the inter-level.
Ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities provide two powerful lenses to approach the challenge of digital transformation for traditional companies. Ambidexterity refers to ""an organization's ability to be aligned and efficient in its management of today's business demands (exploitation) while simultaneously being adaptive to changes in the environment (exploration)"" \parencite{raisch2008organizational}. Although there are multiple ways to balance exploration and exploitation activities, it is argued that structural separation of exploring and exploiting activities is the best form of ambidexterity for an organization seeking to engage in digital transformation. According to \textcite{eisenhardt2000dynamic}, companies must develop sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities to take full advantage of digital transformation. For the sensing capability, it is important to involve people that are the closest to the market. The sensing capability should not be limited to one market, because there might also be interesting developments in adjacent markets. The reconfiguring capability can be considered a higher-order capability. As reconfiguring includes ""consistently implementing renewal activities by assigning responsibilities, allocating resources, and ensuring that the workforce possesses the newly required knowledge"" \parencite{kump2019toward}, the management team should play a prominent role in the reconfiguring capability.
While these approaches on their own provide valuable insights, integrating both approaches point to three success factors that should take center stage in digital transformation. To deal with environmental barriers, organizations should take customers by the hand in the process of change. During the sensing process, customer can be a useful source of information, whereas in the seizing process, it is really important to acquire feedback from customers. The second identified success factor is an innovation funnel that is a tool to guide the innovation process to overcome organizational, environmental, and technological barriers. The last success factor is a steering group that oversees the whole process, including exploration and exploitation. This is also a way to involve internal stakeholders and thereby resolving cultural barriers.
The research was initiated with a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, which identified several gaps in the existing knowledge. These included a lack of detailed coverage on risk identification, assessment, and evaluation in case studies, limited information on parachute mortar systems specific to sounding rockets, and a lack of application of socio-technical systems to technical subsystems in spaceflight. The primary objective of this study was to develop a comprehensive risk management guideline specifically tailored for parachute mortar systems, integrating a socio-technical systems approach. The guideline aimed to be grounded in conventional risk management practices while being validated through a practical case study to ensure its feasibility. Throughout the research, various results were obtained. The evaluation of conventional risk management methods, including ISO31010, industry practices and socio-technical views, led to the initial design of the risk management approach. This approach was then applied to a case study involving the DARE mortar, allowing for the reflection on each method’s effectiveness. Key risks identified were
related to the carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) canister of the mortar system and risks of underperformance due to pressure leaks in the system during flight. These critical risks were successfully reduced through redesign and testing activities in the risk treatment phase of the case study. The final Risk Management Guideline was developed by incorporating the lessons learned from applying the approach to the case study. By applying the developed framework to a real-world scenario, this research went beyond theoretical considerations and demonstrated the practical applicability of the socio-technical system approach in mitigating risks associated with parachute mortars on sounding rockets. The combination of a practical
case study, a socio-technical approach, and risk management on sounding rocket subsystems is considered novel and has the potential to advance risk management activities in this domain.
The research also identified several future research directions. These include performing more case studies on smaller technical subsystems using a socio-technical systems approach, exploring and establishing consensus on definitions and boundaries of socio-technical systems, integrating qualitative results of human reliability analysis with risk management methods, and defining objective methods for
risk evaluation and establishing risk acceptance criteria. Overall, this thesis research contributes to the field of risk management by addressing the unique challenges
of parachute mortars on sounding rockets through a socio-technical systems perspective. The developed risk management guideline, validated through a practical case study, provides valuable insights and practical applications for mitigating risks in this specific context. It is anticipated that this research will facilitate further advancements in risk management activities for parachute mortars and socio-technical systems while also having the potential to be applied to other sounding rocket subsystems.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6c82a4ff-22ba-47e4-aa43-5a2ff86ca233","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6c82a4ff-22ba-47e4-aa43-5a2ff86ca233","Survey and Interview Methods to Measure Victimization in Theft for the Dutch National Police","Glaser, Michael (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; Dutch National Police)","van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Niknam, Amir (graduation committee); van Delden, F.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Currently, the Dutch National Police are looking to optimize resource allocation and decision-making through the measurement of the concept: “safety.” However, the measurement of safety does not have a universally defined method in the branch of policing and security. Qualitative data collection methods are being increasingly implemented in police departments around the world to improve safety and security. These data collection methods aim to implement evidence-based policing practices in order to form predictive assessments of future crime. Additionally, qualitative reporting methods such as officer interviews and victimization surveys can complement current quantitative data collection by improving police-community engagement and mitigating
""dark numbers"" (unreported crimes).
This research aims to address what the implementation of victimization surveys and officer interviews, in coordination with current data collection methods, can add to an optimized police response and resource allocation to future crimes in theft for the Dutch National Police. The research approach of this thesis takes inspiration from commonalities found in a scoping literature review of policing methods around the world and a former joint interdisciplinary project (JIP) with the Dutch National Police. The perspectives of victims and police, which can be partially measured by surveys and interviews, are considered to significantly affect safety and security within society.
The research method was executed through the use of surveys (historical CBS data and theoretical scenario surveys) and officer interviews. These surveys and officer interviews were designed to determine how significantly certain victim factors, such as amount stolen, income, geography, and past experiences of theft affect a victim's perception on the severity of the theft, reporting threshold, and desired outcome in reporting theft. The method designed was flexible, as the ability to implement surveys to people that measures income and geography was dependent on both the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and the data security concerns of the Dutch National Police.
Based on a victimization survey given to 1547 respondents, these victim factors do correlate with the perceived significance of theft. The magnitude and significance of these correlations are displayed in this report, and comparison with police employee interview results leads to significant insights that may determine why these correlations exist. In brief summary, the victim factors of income, geography, previous victimhood, and the amount stolen in theft generally have positive correlations with a respondent's victimization chance, reporting threshold, desired monetary compensation after theft, general satisfaction in successful reporting outcomes, and the perceived severity of theft.
A concluding recommendation from this research is to consider the further implementation of victimization surveys as a complementary data collection method. Specifically, the correlation of victim factors to the perceived significance of theft can assist in predictive policing through victim profiles that more accurately estimate dark numbers. In addition, the concept of adding qualitative measurement methods on victim factors to a universally-defined equation of safety can serve as a complement to current quantitative crime statistics. Through this implementation, current theft prevention and resource allocation strategies may be improved for the Dutch National Police, leading to a safer society.","Policing; Security; Victimization Surveys; Safety; Victims; Interviews; Theft","en","master thesis","","","","","","https://test.cmix.com/#/?cmixPrj=110862&cmixLocale=254061&cmixSampleSource=382787&cmixTest=95BC0977 Online Survey Testing Link","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:277bb013-2852-4ce0-86ae-1b77f52b617a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:277bb013-2852-4ce0-86ae-1b77f52b617a","The role of managerial communication in the adoption of IT automation: RPA in the recruitment industry","Dannenberg, Jan-Mark (TU Delft Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ding, Aaron Yi (mentor); Wagner, Ben (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This master's thesis addresses a common problem of the adoption of IT automation; the nonoptimal use of the technology due to ineffective managerial communication. It searches for a solution by using the Design Science Research methodology to create a design artifact in the form of a managerial communication framework. This framework provides values to all stakeholders in the IT automation adoption process; the managerial level, the employees, and the technology provider. It improves managerial communication during the adoption process and identifies actionable guidelines for managers.
Narrowing down the scope of the thesis to the adoption of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) within the recruitment industry allows the research to be manageable within the constraints of a master's thesis. A literature review is used to investigate the knowledge base of the topic of the thesis. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with managers and employees are used as a means of collecting data from the environment. Combining these inputs, this research designs a model that explains the role of managerial communication in the effective adoption of IT automation. The model consists of four main components: managerial communication, motivation & vision, impact awareness, and the effective adoption of IT automation. It explains the constructs that were found relevant in this process and how they relate to each other. Several root constructs are used as a basis to create actionable guidelines to facilitate an effective adoption process. Together with the explanatory model, these guidelines form the managerial communication framework. The main goal of the framework is to bridge the gap between the manager's and the employee's views on the nature of the change. This study finds that managers often view the change as a process optimization, whereas employees view it as an organizational change. The managerial communication framework allows to identify these differences and act upon them.
This study not only designs the communication framework, but also evaluates its defined objectives with several experts. The results of these evaluation interviews demonstrate the validity and usability of the research conducted and the design artifact. Future research can extend the framework to other domains & technologies and tailor it to specific problem cases. Furthermore, the framework can be researched and evaluated in practice by conducting a case study.","Managerial communication; IT automation; RPA; Adoption; Technology adoption; Job insecurity; Performance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2f46c846-4637-431f-b543-6d60b736b028","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2f46c846-4637-431f-b543-6d60b736b028","Digital Platforms for Industrial Metaverse Applications: A Framework to Identify Data Quality Insufficiencies","Biermann, Niklas (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ding, Aaron Yi (mentor); Korevaar, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The metaverse is one of the most disruptive technologies to evolve from the digital transformation. While the potential use cases of creating an immersive virtual world are numerous, the vision of an industrial metaverse is only recently emerging as a concept from the technology. In the automotive sector, manufacturers are starting to use simulation, digital twin technology and Building Information Modelling (BIM) to build virtual factories in an industrial metaverse. The benefits of this innovation are believed to significantly boost production flexibility and efficiency, which is why manufacturers set up data-driven digital platforms to enable an industrial metaverse that interconnects multiple actors. How-ever, technical barriers still hamper the implementation of such platforms whose dependence on flawless data grows with the number of use cases for an industrial metaverse. Accordingly, quality insufficiencies of spatial data and the absence of automatic quality assessments to identify these insufficiencies are one of the most decisive barriers to a widespread adoption of industrial metaverse applications. This thesis examines this problem and investigates how data quality insufficiencies in an industrial metaverse en-vironment can be identified and overcome at the example of an automotive manufacturer that uses the Nvidia Omniverse digital platform to create virtual factory models. A design science approach is pursued to create an extension to the Omniverse software that identifies the most critical data quality insufficien-cies, derives key performance indicators (KPIs) and proposes preventive measures to induce a sustained data quality improvement. Thereby, this thesis lays the groundwork for future research emerging around the concept of an industrial metaverse and the remaining obstacles of digital platforms to enable its applications. The pursued DSRM approach to overcome such barriers is capable to serve as guidance for future research projects that pave the way for a gradual enablement of further industrial metaverse use cases in other industries.","Data Quality; Digital Platform; Metaverse; Manufacturing","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2025-07-07","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:359e60c6-a434-49be-9ec1-b49e94c29095","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:359e60c6-a434-49be-9ec1-b49e94c29095","Successful Scale-Up Support for Start-Ups in Industrial Biotechnology: A Multiple Case Study on Scale-Up Support Ecosystems","Brouwer, Gijs (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Delgado Medina, Fátima (graduation committee); Cuellar-Soares, Maria (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Industrial biotechnology is labelled by the European Commission as one of the six key enabling technologies to fight climate change. Industrial biotechnology is a sector where biocatalysts (cells or enzymes) are used to convert renewable feedstocks (e.g. sugars) or even waste into valuable compounds such as renewable chemicals or food (ingredients). Unfortunately, the road from invention to commercial production is long in industrial biotechnology, and most biotechnologies that look promising after laboratory development fail to cross the Valley of Death and reach industrial scale. Industrial biotechnology has a long technology development time before being commercialised, is capital intensive, has economies of scale, and usually produces bulk products with low profit margins requiring large industrial-scale production for economic viability. Scale-up support can facilitate scale-up towards industrial scale. Scale-up support was, for example, offered with the Bioprocess Pilot Facility at the Biotech Campus Delft, before its bankruptcy in November 2022. This bankruptcy occurred while being fully booked. This has left the Planet B.io - Biotech Campus Delft scale-up support ecosystem with a lot of potential. In an attempt to scientifically address this scale-up support problem, a knowledge gap was found on the verge of technical scale-up, industrial biotechnology, and scale-up support ecosystems. This led to the main research question: How can a scale-up support ecosystem for industrial biotechnology be best organised and operated?
To answer this, a multiple case study was conducted on the scale-up support ecosystems of Planet B.io - Biotech Campus Delft, Copenhagen, and Brightlands Chemelot. This case study was performed through desk research and semi-structured expert interviews with 3 different types of experts (ecosystem, technical scale-up and start-up expert) per ecosystem, resulting in 9 interviewees. This case study applies the Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework to a novel context and integrates it with the four identified scale-up support elements (technical facilities \& services, funding \& business services, network formation \& coordination, and knowledge \& talent) offering a framework to study scale-up support ecosystems. This study identified the scale-up support requirements for industrial biotechnology. These scale-up support requirements are, among others, a flexible and fully-serviced shared piloting facility up until TRL 6 ($\approx$ 2000 L bioreactor), a lab- to pilot- and industrial-scale technical support service, investment planning service and help with raising funding. These should be offered within a scale-up support ecosystem using milestone-based billing as a preferred revenue model, whereas a government voucher system should be set up to pay for the lab- to pilot- and industrial-scale technical support service. Also, the most important stakeholders for a scale-up support ecosystem were identified, including multiple large corporations, government institutions, universities (and other types of education), suppliers, and service providers. Based on the findings, a roadmap for the development of the Planet B.io - Biotech Campus Delft scale-up support ecosystem was proposed, focusing on strengthening the network, knowledge, talent, and funding before offering a piloting facility and business services. This study contributes to the field with a framework to study scale-up support ecosystems as well as with practical recommendations for scale-up support ecosystems in industrial biotechnology and similar industries, identifying the scale-up support requirements, its business models and required stakeholders.","Scale-up Support Ecosystem; Industrial Biotechnology; Valley of Death; Piloting; Technological Innovation System (TIS); Business Models; Stakeholders; Roadmap","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2024-07-13","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","52.018397, 4.340845"
"uuid:1598a304-ddf3-4359-82d2-8957fe02b6b1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1598a304-ddf3-4359-82d2-8957fe02b6b1","Sustainable business model dynamics of technology-based start-ups: The role of external factors in the Dutch PV sector","Günther, Roland (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hartmann, L. (graduation committee); Khodaei, H. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Research on the effect and influence of external factors on the sustainable business model elements of technology-based start-ups in the Netherlands operating in the PV sector. This resulted in research findings demonstrating that external factors exert a substantial influence on the business model dynamics of Dutch technology-based PV start-ups. Understanding and adapting to these external influences is essential for the sustained success of these start-ups, emphasizing the need for strategic responsiveness and alignment with the evolving external environment. It also shows that the findings of this thesis are not limited to Dutch technology-based PV start-ups but can also be applicable to start-ups in the renewable energy sector, or even start-ups in general.","business model dynamics; start-up; external factors; Business model innovation; Pestel framework","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4f69bc78-07e8-48c1-9709-2136714cebcd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4f69bc78-07e8-48c1-9709-2136714cebcd","Using BWM and ELECTRE III to aid manufacturing unit process optimization in Healthcare Technology industry","Makarević, Masa (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rezaei, J. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); van Eekelen, M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The current trend of technology being increasingly integrated into the healthcare industry is heavily influencing the supply chains of companies involved. Thus, companies need to find ways to remain competitive, one of which is introducing process optimization in (parts of) their supply chains. In large organizations whose portfolios involve a variety of products and processes, the problem of choosing a focus area for implementing process optimization arises. Due to its complexity and various influencing factors and decision-makers, this issue can be regarded as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. This thesis presents a novel framework for finding a solution by means of combining two MCDM methods, Linear Best-Worst Method (BWM) for determining the weights of the relevant criteria, and ELECTRE III for ranking the chosen alternatives. The framework was applied to a real case within a manufacturing unit of Philips in The Netherlands, where a focus area is chosen among 8 alternative process steps in the assembly of an Image-Guided Therapy Medical System. Six decision-makers within Philips were chosen and interviewed in order to collect the necessary data, and they chose a set of 7 relevant criteria based on which the alternative process steps would be ranked. The results obtained from the analysis ranked the Cabling 2 step of the assembly process as the first one, so it was recommended that process optimization is implemented in this step. This framework contributes to existing research by addressing the research gap in choosing a focus area for process optimization, as well as by presenting a new MCDM method. Furthermore, it offers an easy-to-use, stepwise procedure for solving this issue for companies in the industry.","Multi-criteria decision-making; MCDM; Supply Chain Management; BWM; ELECTRE","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1e226710-620c-467d-b791-9b6a683b97c7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1e226710-620c-467d-b791-9b6a683b97c7","Investigating the role of speculation in commodity futures markets: a multi-method approach","Breman, Carlotta (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Kroesen, M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","With finance entering the real economy, new kinds of markets have emerged, such as futures markets, in which special contracts – called futures – are exchanged. From the early 2000s, futures on commodities have become popular among financial instruments, and we talk about ""financialization of commodity markets"". The uniqueness of commodity futures markets is that they see the participation of two structurally different market actors: physical commodity participants and speculators. Several, opposing claims have been made about speculation within commodity futures markets. One important claim is that the increase in speculative activity has, in certain periods of time, driven up commodity prices over and above the levels warranted by fundamentals of demand and supply.
This thesis investigates the role of speculation on the prices of two food commodities, corn (maize) and soybeans, and answers the following research question: To what extent did financial speculation have a role in rising food commodity prices over the years 2004-2023? To do so, a ""multi-method"" approach is employed. Specifically, the four methods are: a literature review; a replication of an econometric model; statistical inspections and linear Granger causality tests; and interviews with experts.
First, the ""indirect"" effect of speculation on food commodity prices through the oil market is examined with the extension of an econometric model proposed by Knittel and Pindyck. The analysis shows that, in recent periods, speculation can account for around 11% of the oil price changes. Then, through Granger-causality tests, a Granger-causation chain between oil prices, fertilizer prices and food commodity prices is found. The two findings together prove that speculation has some role in affecting oil prices, and that dynamics in oil markets are transmitted to food markets. Second, the thesis proceeds by assessing – though empirical analyses and Granger causality tests – the more direct effects of speculative activities in food commodity markets themselves on food commodity prices, as well as the relation existing between spot and futures prices. Even though the statistical evidence of speculation driving prices is found only in a few specific cases, the chapter concludes that speculation cannot be completely excluded from the factors affecting prices’ dynamics. Eventually, this thesis comes up with a theoretical-cum-empirical framework – justified and sustained by a literature review, a model replication, some statistical inspections and tests, and interviews of experts – that concludes that excessive speculation has – to some extent – been driving up and affecting commodities prices: specifically, speculation has increased volatility in futures markets.","Speculation; Commodity; Futures markets; Oil market; Financialization; Granger causality","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:36adb54a-fa7d-4cc8-a552-556025216d73","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:36adb54a-fa7d-4cc8-a552-556025216d73","Wealth Inequality in the Netherlands: Developments and Causes","Griekspoor, Wessel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Wealth inequality exists all over the world. This can be seen as a social problem because it violates accepted norms of egalitarian distribution. Moreover, wealth inequality can negatively affect a number of areas, including economic growth. However, wealth inequality also has advantages. For example, it provides incentives to engage in risky ventures that can lead to a more prosperous society. Thus, it would actually promote technological development and economic growth. The problem remains that wealth inequality above a certain point yields more negative than positive effects. Yet the most optimal point of wealth inequality is difficult to determine and depends on the context in which a country finds itself.
Wealth inequality is clearly a socioeconomic issue and has been increasingly studied internationally in recent years. For the Netherlands, however, it has only been examined in a handful of studies and often only one indicator has been used. The first objective of this thesis is therefore to investigate the development of wealth inequality in the Netherlands using various indicators. Moreover, these studies have done little or no research into the causes of the development of wealth inequality. As such, the second and main objective of this thesis is to examine the causes of this development in the Netherlands. During the Management of Technology (MOT) program at TU Delft, several major social issues related to technology or innovation were addressed. At the time of writing, wealth inequality is a contemporary socioeconomic issue in the Netherlands. It also affects technological development and innovation, making it relevant to the MOT program. Based on the main objective, we formulated the following main research question:
Main RQ: What factors have contributed to the development of wealth inequality in the Netherlands?
To answer this research question, we first conducted a literature review. Here, we addressed the definition of wealth, how wealth inequality can be measured, what had already been researched in the Netherlands, and the possible consequences of wealth inequality. But the most important finding from this literature review was a holistic view of the possible causes of wealth inequality. We did this primarily by analyzing studies that examined wealth inequality in countries similar to the Netherlands. We found that at least 10 macroeconomic and 8 household factors can potentially directly influence wealth inequality in a given country. We also identified indirect factors, but did not include them in this thesis.
After presenting a comprehensive overview of possible causes of wealth inequality, we developed hypotheses for these determinants. At the macroeconomic level, no hypotheses were eventually developed for the factors wealth tax, inheritance tax, and political stability. The latter was not considered relevant for the Netherlands. The other two remained constant over the years and were not meaningful to analyze. Ultimately, a total of 7 hypotheses were developed for the macroeconomic level. We omitted examining the effects of wealth inequality in this thesis, with the exception of the effect of wealth inequality on income inequality. These two factors would reinforce each other and this is better known as the snowballing-effect. Therefore, not 8 but 9 hypotheses were developed for the household level. Based on the formulated hypotheses, a conceptual model was created that served as the basis for the empirical analysis.
A descriptive analysis was then conducted. When collecting the data, the CBS database was mainly used. Occasionally, data from DNB and the World Bank were used. First, the development of wealth inequality in the Netherlands was examined. Most of the data found on household wealth covered the period 2006-2021. This period was therefore retained for the entire empirical analysis. Three indicators were used to validate the development of wealth inequality. These indicators were found to be highly correlated with each other, allowing the development of wealth inequality in the Netherlands to be confirmed with certainty. From 2006 to 2008, there was a small decline, after which it rose to record levels in 2013. From then on it fell again, and by 2021 the level was about the same as in 2008. Whether this is a desirable level of wealth inequality, we cannot say and requires further research. Subsequently, we examined the development of the possible determinants for which hypotheses were developed. We have not validated the determinants and associated indicators as in the case of wealth inequality (with the exception of income inequality). As a result, the development of the determinants entails some uncertainty. Moreover, we could not find suitable indicators for all determinants. In the end, 6 macroeconomic and 7 household determinants remained for the regression analysis.
With the remaining macroeconomic and household determinants, we first ran a simple regression to filter out the factors with significant influence on wealth inequality. We found that at the macroeconomic level, 3 factors were significant and consistent with the formulated hypotheses: housing prices, generous welfare state, and globalization. At the household level, these were 2 factors: mortgage debts and financial assets ownership rate inequality. Thus, no evidence was found for the snowballing-effect in the Netherlands. Two multiple regression analyses were then conducted: at the macroeconomic level and at the household level. It was found that all macroeconomic determinants were again significant and explained 93.7% of the variance in wealth inequality. Housing prices contributed the most to this, followed by globalization and generous welfare state, respectively. The two household determinants were also found to be significant and explained 73.8% of the variance in wealth inequality. Financial assets ownership rate inequality contributed the most to this. Based on the descriptive and regression analyses, the final conceptual model was created. Due to the limitations of the study, we could not examine whether the two regression models are correlated. Apart from that, however, we can conclude that they both predict the development of wealth inequality quite well, thus answering the main research question.
This study has filled several knowledge gaps by (1) examining and validating the development of wealth inequality in the Netherlands using various indicators, (2) constructing a comprehensive overview of possible causes of wealth inequality, and (3) empirically identifying the causes of the development of wealth inequality in the Netherlands. Furthermore, we can provide a number of insights to policymakers based on our findings. First, policymakers could compare the development of wealth inequality with the policies they implemented during this period to learn from it. This in turn could also provide new insights into the possible causes of wealth inequality in the Netherlands (at the policy level). Moreover, the significantly identified causes offer direct guidance for policymakers to influence wealth inequality in the Netherlands. This is especially true for the determinants generous welfare state, globalization, and financial assets ownership rate inequality, as they can be directly influenced by public policy. Further research should focus on identifying the consequences of the development of wealth inequality in the Netherlands. This can contribute to a better understanding of the desired level of wealth inequality in the Netherlands so that policymakers can manage it more effectively.
As a result, the present study aims to investigate the impact of implementing the metaverse on the operations of B2B firms. By conducting a qualitative research approach, comprising a series of 16 interviews with participants from diverse backgrounds and expertise, this study undertakes a comprehensive examination of the definition, advantages, challenges, preparatory measures, and sustainability of metaverse implementation in B2B firms.
This research advances knowledge on metaverse implementation in the B2B sector, offering theoretical and practical insights into benefits, challenges, preparation, and sustainability. It equips managers with the knowledge to assess the metaverse's potential, address risks, and adopt successful implementation strategies.","Metaverse; Business-to-Business (B2B);; Implementation; Firm Operations","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:19d5196d-9e32-46a9-a732-dd75ed74ddb0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:19d5196d-9e32-46a9-a732-dd75ed74ddb0","Organising employee-driven innovation in high-tech organisations","Gupta, Aditi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Sand, M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","In today's knowledge-intensive economy, innovation has become essential for securing a competitive advantage, assisting firms in thriving, and ensuring their survival. Corporations have realised that experts are just some of the ones responsible for innovation. Employee involvement in developing innovation processes thus represents a significant cultural shift from established company practices. This realisation has led to the emergence of employee-driven innovation (EDI). There is academic work that studies different contributing factors to EDI. Management practices and leadership are crucial for implementing EDI initiatives by creating a supportive environment, encouraging innovation, and providing autonomy and guidance to employees. Recent work looks into creativity and employee work behaviour. There is also work around digital EDI, and some studies look into the organisation of EDI.
However, organisations still struggle with implementing EDI. This research aims to identify key factors and practices that effectively organise EDI within high-tech organisations. The qualitative and inductive study used semi-structured interviews to generate theory and draw general conclusions. The target population includes change managers, senior managers, and employees in high-tech organisations. Twelve people from different organisations in The Netherlands participated in the study. I recorded, transcribed and anonymised the video interviews. These anonymised documents were further used for coding to identify emergent themes.
The results provide valuable insights into the participants' understanding, perception, and outcomes of EDI initiatives. Initially, they showed limited awareness of EDI, but after being informed, they recognised its importance in leveraging the creative potential of all employees. The participants discussed examples of EDI initiatives, highlighting the use of digital platforms, collaborative sessions, competitions, and off-site activities to foster innovation. They acknowledged various benefits of EDI, such as cross-functional collaboration, diversity of thought, self-leadership, and persistence. However, their definition of success varied, with some focusing on idea integration while others emphasised factors like customer satisfaction or alignment with organisational priorities. Challenges associated with EDI were also identified, including organisational resistance, managing the number of ideas generated, and the lack of clear definitions for innovation and success.
This study fills a research gap by offering practical insights into organising and implementing EDI effectively. The findings emphasise the importance of creating an innovative environment, recruiting individuals with specific characteristics, and organising EDI activities that are engaging and connected to daily work experiences. The highlights include leadership advocacy, fostering a supportive culture, and recognising employee efforts. The study proposes a shift in the assumption that all employees are willing to innovate and suggests integrating EDI into daily work routines. Theoretical implications indicate introducing an idea selection phase in the EDI process. Practical implications include balancing business and creativity, providing incentives, managing time effectively, promoting collaboration, and establishing transparent criteria for idea selection. The study proposes an EDI intervention framework that serves as a roadmap for organisations, emphasising idea generation, selection, implementation, cultural enablement, and transparent processes. Overall, this study contributes to understanding EDI and provides recommendations for fostering a culture of innovation.","Employee Driven Innovation; innovation management; High-Tech Industry; Employee Experience; innovative work behaviour","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:538015b5-d2d5-4d83-aa32-fd2e1c290336","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:538015b5-d2d5-4d83-aa32-fd2e1c290336","The impact of nudging and self-control on food preferences","STAVROU, SOFIA (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Lefter, I. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Maintaining a healthy eating behavior can be challenging, especially under stressful situations. Self-control plays a pivotal role in this struggle, since it allows one to resist immediate desires in pursuit of higher-level goals. The level of self-control can differ among individuals, with varying degrees of “strength”. This strength can be likened to a “muscle”, which has specific power and endurance and enables the exertion of self-control at a certain time. Power is linked to the individual situation-invariant levels of trait self-control, which enables the initial exercise of self-control at a particular moment. However, the maintenance of self-control over time is attributed to “muscle endurance”, which is represented by individual depletion sensitivity. Like a muscle that can become depleted after exertion, the exercise of self-control can deplete available cognitive resources, leading to ego depletion, decreased self-control capacity, and thus unhealthy food choices. Food recommender systems are considered effective tools for promoting healthier choices and may be seen as nudges that make healthier options more salient. Many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of recommender systems and digital nudging in influencing users’ food choices in the direction of healthier ones. Attribute frames, including positive and negative types, are popular information nudges in the health field. Nonetheless, their impact on eating behaviors remains a controversial issue. Evidence has shown that dispositional factors, such as self-control levels, may moderate the effectiveness of attribute frames.
This study aimed to examine to what extent attribute frames steer human food choices toward healthy ones, and in what way self-control levels influence that relationship. An online experiment was conducted, utilizing attribute frames as the independent variable, food choices as the dependent variable, and depletion sensitivity and trait self-control as moderating variables. Participants were randomly provided seven different food options, each of which came with an attribute framing message, to evaluate the effects of positive and negative attribute frames on healthy food choices. The Depletion Sensitivity Scale (DSS), and Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCC) were used to assess the individuals’ levels of depletion sensitivity and trait self-control, in respect. The findings revealed that positive attribute frames effectively encouraged healthy food choices, while negative frames had a relatively lower impact. Depletion sensitivity moderated the relationship between attribute frames and healthy food choices, suggesting that individuals with low depletion sensitivity were more likely to select healthy options under positive framing conditions. However, no significant moderating effect of trait self-control was observed. Lastly, the relationship between attribute frames and food preference was found to be significantly moderated by gender differences. In conclusion, this study provided evidence supporting the influence of attribute frames on healthy food choices and the moderating role of depletion sensitivity on this relationship. The significance of considering gender differences in the analysis of the effect of attribute frames on food preferences was also illustrated.","Nudge Theory; Attribute Frames; Food Recommender Systems; Healthy Food Choices; self-control; Depletion Sensitivity; Trait self-control; Gender; Ego-depletion","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:688d1bbb-2fe2-4482-b763-7ff1557d0e13","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:688d1bbb-2fe2-4482-b763-7ff1557d0e13","Collaboration as a driver of EDI: How Collaborative Activities Drive the Development and Implementation of Employee-Driven Innovation Initiatives","de Haas, Joery (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Sand, M. (graduation committee); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","A growing perspective on innovation suggests that significant innovation can stem from employees' daily activities. Traditional innovation practices often delegate decision-making to a select group, typically R&D departments or specialized units. However, this approach overlooks the innovation potential distributed across all employees in an organization. Recent understanding challenges this traditional view, emphasizing that all employees possess the potential for innovation. Recognizing and harnessing this potential can lead to more distributed and effective innovation practices within organizations. This concept is referred to as Employee-Driven Innovation.
In the context of Employee-Driven Innovation (EDI), collaboration is crucial for successful development and implementation. Effective collaboration, reliant on structures promoting knowledge exchange, skill development, and resource sharing, amplifies an organization's performance by capitalizing on individual strengths and expertise. However, the specific impact of collaboration on EDI practices is not well-understood, creating a gap in the literature and an opportunity to explore how collaboration influences EDI. Understanding these dynamics can inform and shape effective EDI practices. Therefore, it's essential to investigate the influence of collaborative activity on EDI, guiding the formation of effective strategies and driving successful EDI practices.
This research narrows its focus to the development and implementation phase of Employee-Driven Innovation (EDI), as the literature suggests this phase is most influenced by collaborative activities and the organizational context allows deeper research into this specific phase. The central question being explored in this research is: how do collaborative activities drive the development and implementation of EDI initiatives?
To address this, a case study is conducted within a single organization, Stedin, a grid operator in the Netherlands. The study encompasses several EDI initiatives and involves questioning both the initiators of the initiatives and collaborators during the development and implementation phase. A semi-structured interview format is used to gather insights.
This research reveals key insights into the contrasting collaborative activities of the ""fuzzy front end"" and the ""back end"" of the development and implementation process of EDI initiatives. The fuzzy front end, characterized by exploration, thrives on dynamic, distant, and informal collaboration. These characteristics facilitate swift interactions, overcome organizational resistance, and prevent collective decision-making structures, thus promoting speed and flexibility.
Conversely, the back end, typically more specialized and complex, benefits from stable, intimate, and homogeneous collaboration. This phase involves a time-consuming and complex role transfer, transitioning the EDI to an innovation that can be adopted organization-wide. Stable, homogeneous and intimate collaboration ensures effective implementation and a smooth transition of ownership...
This research is executed as an embedded single case study in both the global and Dutch context to understand this scenario and their gender representation at the management level. This is, in particular, to relate gender equality ratio progress and effectiveness for development programs to promote more women leaders supporting equitable workplace. The embedded case study is performed through ethnography research in terms of observations, qualitative interviews, and focused group discussions inside the organization. This approach helps to understand the existing scenario for women's representation and leadership development opportunities in a typical materials company. This is extended for industrial benchmarks at the global level as a comparison of gender equality ratios against their competitors. The leadership interviews with both genders focusing on women leaders are done and the outputs showed the driving factors, challenges, and future requirements to create equity-focused leadership. Further analysis is done to extract the key elements impacting gender equity for leadership development programs.
Whereas, focused group discussions are aimed at involving employees at different levels and employees who are closely involved in leadership programs. So, focused group discussion is done with the Young professional group that comprises employees at different levels and Human Resources team who drives leadership programs. These discussions acted as data triangulation for qualitative interviews and provided more insights into leadership development programs from different perspectives. As a result, the existing gaps and challenges for the leadership development of women employees in an organization are studied. Facts derived from the organizational level and qualitative results provided enough reasons for ineffective development programs in supporting equity at leadership levels. This is evident that leadership levels demanded more women employees and necessary driving factors to motivate them. This also emphasized how HR policies and role model representation can contribute better in driving more female employees into leadership levels.
However, the missing factor is equitable actions in leadership development programs to create an inclusive environment. Thereby, a leadership development cycle is developed to strengthen various processes making the leadership program as equity-focused and motivating female employees for leadership positions. However, the recommendations are derived using the embedded single case study and explained briefly about a roadmap showing the next future phases for equity at leadership levels and their decision-making impact on innovation. Finally, a leadership development framework is developed showing the possible methods and processes for driving more female employees from the organizational level to the leadership level. This leadership framework shows how women leaders need effective equity-focused development programs using equitable actions considering both social and professional barriers. Using this framework, the practical implications are summarized for promoting women leaders at leadership levels through equity-focused leadership development programs.","Equity-focused Leadership; Gender Equity; Leadership Development; Innovation; Women Leaders; Women Empowerment; Chemical industry; Materials company; Top Management; Professional barriers; Social barriers","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-06-21","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:dd83e058-c9d2-436c-b822-46de920f50a6","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dd83e058-c9d2-436c-b822-46de920f50a6","Impact and integration of information monitoring in the context of a software startup: how to increase user retention","A Incisa della Rocchetta, Alberto (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Zuiderwijk, AMG (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:18144372-db72-4b73-891f-dbe4ac800610","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:18144372-db72-4b73-891f-dbe4ac800610","How interpretable is explainable?: The development of a framework to assess how interpretable Explainable Artificial Intelligence is for laypeople","Lensen, David (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ding, Aaron Yi (mentor); Warnier, Martijn (mentor); Westberg, M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Explainable AI (XAI) systems are rapidly gaining significance. While frameworks for XAI interpretability for experts abound, metrics for laypeople’s comprehension are absent. This study addresses this gap by investigating interpretability factors from both developer and layperson perspectives. The core research question is: ""How can XAI developers assess to what extent XAI is interpretable for laypeople?"".
Applying the Design Science Research Methodology, findings from multiple literature reviews are combined to construct a preliminary XAI interpretability framework for laypeople, featuring crucial factors and their relationships, as well as associated principles. The proposed framework underwent validation through semi-structured interviews with 12 XAI experts, informing revisions and refinement of our key principles. Subsequent layperson surveys, considering a specific use case, offered insights into preferences about interpretability factors, informing further refinement.
The final theoretical framework highlights pivotal factors including simplicity, transparency, comprehensiveness, complexity, clarity, generalizability, trustworthiness, explanation fidelity, model fidelity, intentionality, relevance, affordance, coherence with prior beliefs, and actionability. Surrounding the framework are key principles emphasizing trustworthiness, relevance, simplicity, clarity, coherence, intentionality, actionability, fidelity, contextualization, and ethical considerations, serving as actionable guidelines for XAI developers and researchers.
The implications of the study are profound, offering valuable insights for advancing XAI research and system design. The refined framework and principles act as a foundation for both novice and experienced XAI developers, fostering interdisciplinary research among AI, human-computer interaction, psychology, and philosophy experts. These findings can drive the responsible adoption of AI systems across sectors like healthcare, finance, and transportation, while informing policies and regulations governing AI technologies. Our study promotes responsible AI practices, enhancing user trust and understanding, while facilitating the creation of more effective guidelines and standards.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a4d449f5-4042-4d49-a308-d40b54bd57ab","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a4d449f5-4042-4d49-a308-d40b54bd57ab","Sustainable innovation implementation in Dutch horticulture","Buitenhuis, Petrik (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Facility Management)","Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Khodaei, H. (mentor); Delgado Medina, Fátima (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","The Dutch horticulture sector (Dhc sector) is a significant contributor to the country's GDP and a global leader in horticultural production and trade. However, despite government efforts, the sector faces challenges in achieving sustainable targets. Sustainable startups, the suppliers of innovative solutions, also encounter barriers hindering the implementation of their sustainable business models. This study aims to identify these barriers and propose niche strategies to help sustainable startups effectively implement their business models in the Dutch horticulture sector.
To address the research question, the study develops the Sustainable Transition Navigator (STN) model, which integrates the Sustainable Business Model Canvas (SBMC), Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) framework, and niche strategies. The model assists startups in visualizing and optimizing the impact of their niche strategies on their sustainable business models.
The STN model is validated and applied to two sustainable startups in the Dhc sector. Through stakeholder analysis and qualitative interviews, the study identifies six clusters of innovation barriers specific to the sector. These findings are incorporated into the STN model to highlight the barriers that sustainable startups must overcome.
The practical implementation of the STN model reveals its benefits. Startups find the model valuable for assessing technological viability and selecting appropriate niche strategies. The visual representation of the model facilitates communication within startup teams, emphasizing the importance of regularly revisiting and adjusting strategies. The STN model serves as an online tool for iterative evaluation and adjustment.
The flexibility of the STN model allows startups to adapt it to various stages of their journey. By accurately assessing hindering building blocks and influential factors within the TIS framework, startups can identify areas for improvement and formulate relevant niche strategies. Multiple niche strategies can be organized into a timeline, creating an implementation plan that can be continually revisited.
This study contributes to scientific and managerial fields by expanding the applicability of the TIS framework, introducing the STN model, and providing practical insights for startups and business leaders. The findings offer guidance for navigating barriers and driving sustainable transitions in the Dutch horticulture sector and other industries.
The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether these issues stem from a deeper (Utilitarian) philosophical foundation of how health care is currently funded and to propose a mode of funding founded on Aristotelian principles that would be in support of freedom without adversely affecting (or even improving) costs, accessibility and quality
The analysis of the system of Managed Care (in Chapter 2) and its implementation in The Netherlands (in Chapter 3) suggests that the rising costs of health care may be related at least in part to the utilitarian foundation of this system (with its utility-maximising consumer and its profit-maximising producer who, in an oligopoly like the health-care market, is able to generate super-normal profits), in part to the heavy administrative load associated with Managed Care, and in part due to contracting practices. All of which also restricts freedom of choice.
Aristotle's ethics, specifically his \textit{Nicomachean Ethics}, underlines the importance of freedom (of deliberation) as the quintessential requirement for eudaimonia. If this were taken as the philosophical foundation for the health care system, then patients and health care providers would be able to make informed choices that align with their personal goals and values. This freedom of deliberation stands in stark contrast with protocolisation, standardisation and homogenisation that Managed Care brings. Such a system creates a 'monoculture' in which it is difficult to find discernible differences in price and quality, making it equally difficult to identify possible trade-offs between the two and implications of such trade-offs.
In Chapter 4 I propose a mode of funding Dutch health care that safeguards freedom of deliberation in health care that would be in line with the Dutch socio-economical environment and political system. The proposed Health Care system is a universal health care system with a single-payer that covers all health care expenses; where medical decision/treatments are made autonomously by client and practitioner without meddling/pressure/ruling by other parties who are not practising health care; where the funding of health care is a matter of transparent deliberation between all parties and a part of political discourse.
By prioritising freedom of deliberation, the proposed reforms address the limitations of Managed Care's utilitarian philosophy and offers a more human-centred approach to health care. A system that is based on Aristotelian philosophy creates an environment that encourages open and honest communication between all parties involved and is expected to improve all relevant aspects of the Dutch health care system and health itself. The suggested reforms are far reaching and may seem unrealistic. Its proper functioning would indeed require substantial social reform in all spheres of social life (economic, legal-political, and cultural), though they remain entirely in-line with Dutch socio-econo-political reality.
In conclusion, this thesis argues that the Netherlands' health care reform should prioritise freedom of deliberation (the fundamental requirement for eudaimonia). As such individuals' well-being and values are prioritised, which is expected to have beneficial effects including reducing costs and improving the overall quality of care without diminishing access to it. Free deliberation and subsequent cooperation are thought to have more potential than competition.","Health Care; Aristotle; Philosophy; Healthcare; Managed Care; Economics; Netherlands; Ethics; Eudaimonia; Nicomachean Ethics; Policy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:49c31dc3-46ef-464e-acee-9243d10194d8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:49c31dc3-46ef-464e-acee-9243d10194d8","Refracted Reflections: Perceptions of Gender Inequality in Dutch Energy Organisations","Mallant, Kirsten (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)","Lieu, J. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (graduation committee); Feenstra, M.H. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","PURPOSE
Addressing the issue of gender inequality in Dutch energy organisations has become increasingly important, but understanding the complex interplay of personal factors and various aspects of gender inequality that contribute to the perception of this wicked problem remains a challenge. This study aims to explore the refracted reflections of gender inequality among employees in Dutch energy organisations by examining the metaphorical prisms formed by societal, organisational, and individualistic aspects. This multi-dimensional analysis seeks to identify aspects contributing to gender inequality, to show the interdependencies of the issue, and to highlight potential intervention points for implementing change while considering the dynamic interaction between the prisms and personal factors.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH
A qualitative transdisciplinary case study approach was used to explore perceptions of gender inequality within Dutch energy organisations. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews with gender experts and employees, an employee survey, conversations with researchers, and observations at relevant events. The research design incorporated theoretical frameworks such as problem framing and process-based decision making to guide the study. Content analysis was used to identify patterns, relationships and trends in the data collected, providing a comprehensive understanding of the societal, organisational, and individualistic aspects that contribute to gender inequality.
FINDINGS
The study resulted in the development of a novel, comprehensive framework that presents the interplay of wicked problem perceptions through the metaphorical prisms formed by societal, organisational, and individualistic aspects. The framework suggests that mental representations of experienced problem situations, informed by the personal factors of environment, knowledge, and intersectionality, influence cognitive processes such as assumptions and awareness. These mental representations shape the perceptions of the issue, which then determines prioritisation of certain aspects. The framework acknowledges the existence of causal loops between assumptions, awareness, and prioritisation, as well as the dynamic interaction with personal factors.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
The comprehensive framework derived from this study provides valuable insights for Dutch energy organisations and other industries seeking to address gender inequality by understanding and addressing the underlying aspects and personal factors that shape employees’ perceptions. This knowledge can be used to design targeted interventions, organisational policies and practices that promote a more inclusive and equitable work environment.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE
This thesis presents an original approach to understanding gender inequality in Dutch energy organisations, a representative case for other male-dominated technical sectors. It offers a novel, comprehensive framework that captures the interplay of societal, organisational, and individualistic aspects with personal factors to show how perceptions of gender inequality emerge. The value of this research lies in its transdisciplinary approach and its applicability in facilitating real-world interventions and strategies to mitigate gender inequality","Gender Inequality; Perceptions; Problem framing; Organisational change","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:58f4f7f7-72c2-4c2b-900b-471db2e629ae","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:58f4f7f7-72c2-4c2b-900b-471db2e629ae","Drivers and Barriers to the Implementation of the RRI concept in small and medium-sized enterprises in the Chinese healthcare industry","ZHENG, Jasmine (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This article explores the implementation of the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) framework among small and medium-sized healthcare companies in China. The RRI framework has been widely discussed in Europe and the US but is still in the early stages of diffusion in emerging countries and economies. The lack of institutional support and enabling conditions in these countries make it difficult for SMEs to fulfill their mission of socially responsible innovation. Based on a single case study at Gaush Teleon, the article identifies 24 factors for implementing RRI in Chinese SMEs. It develops questionnaires to understand the diffusion of the RRI concept and the ranking of the influencing factors. The results of the data analysis show that policy factors are considered to be the most important influencing factor on the adoption of the RRI framework by Chinese SMEs, followed by organizational and financial factors. The study suggests that examining the alignment of Chinese society with RRI and exploring the feasibility of developing the RRI concept in China can help developing countries assess how emerging technologies and society can evolve together.","RRI; SMEs; China; Healthcare; Responsible Research and Innovation; Barrier; Driver","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f5d33601-100e-46d3-9fdf-39ae76a4a933","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f5d33601-100e-46d3-9fdf-39ae76a4a933","Barriers of small-scale hydropower in the Netherlands","Hainke, Lars (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Policy Analysis)","Pearce, B.J. (mentor); Lieu, J. (mentor); Bots, P.W.G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","One of the biggest current challenges for Earth and humanity is climate change. To lower the impact of already existing effects and decrease potential future effects of rising temperatures, countries have decided on actions with the goal of keeping the temperature rise no higher than 1.5°C. One part of those actions is a transition in the energy system from polluting fossil fuels to renewable energy carriers, such as wind, solar, or hydropower.
In the Netherlands, hydropower is clearly lagging behind compared to other European coun- tries, for various reasons. Some pioneering companies are still trying to utilize the potential of hydropower they see in the large water system in the Netherlands. However, they are struggling to progress and deploy their solutions, as happened at the Bosscherveld project in the south of the Netherlands, Maastricht. The companies involved there claimed that stakeholder processes were the main causes for barriers that stalled project advancements.
Within energy transition projects, stakeholder management often causes problems, and the ac- tual factors that make an actor oppose or stall a project are multifaceted and hard to grasp. Additionally, there is a lack of tools and methods for a company working on technologies in this field to gain a thorough understanding of their stakeholders and translate that understanding into concrete strategic decisions on how to behave in such a project. With this research it was attempted to identify the most important stakeholder-related factors for a company to consider when working within an energy transition based project. This should add managerial guidance as well as the ability to assess the status of a project. For a company already working on the project or that joins it, they can estimate the condition the project is in and see what is missing for its success, improving the overall certainty for potential revenues.
With a mixed-framework approach consisting of the definition of the main structural compo- nents and policies of the technology innovation system (TIS) surrounding the SHP, a classic stakeholder analysis using a power-interest-grid, and semi-structured interviews to create an expert model for the small-scale hydropower (SHP) project has been applied. The first two areas were mainly used to get an understanding of the technology’s surrounding market and to make assumptions regarding the roles involved in the project. The interviews were aimed to fully understand the project’s processes and each stakeholder’s perceptions on barriers in those processes, so that an ideal process and the stakeholders’ views on most important factors for such a project could be derived.
With this approach it was possible to identify 25 stakeholder-related factors that are important to consider for a company working on such a project, as well as understanding their interconnec- tions and reasons for why they are important. The factors then could be classified into themes
covering Motivation, Purpose, Effective Teamwork, Investment, Entrepreneurial Activities, Base of Collaboration, and Macro-Environment and clustered into areas that build the Foundation of the Venture the factors that are Supporting Collaboration, and the ones that influ- ence and define the Stakeholder Interest. The first area consists of factors, that need to be present at the beginning of the project or need to be established within the starting phase such as resources, a business model, and trust. The factors to support the collaboration are fostering continuous interaction and general rules for how it should be worked together, such as planning and ownership. The factors of stakeholder interest, achieve a higher resolution of how a stakeholder’s interest is formed, and what should be looked at during the stakeholder analysis, to understand the actors positioning within and towards the project, like a stakeholder’s drive, their personal vision, or simply what they can gain from the project. This must be done on a continuous bases, since a stakeholder’s motivation and gains can change due to unforeseeable events or a change in for instance a country’s policy.
Therefore, it could be seen that not one or a few instances or factors could be identified that resulted in the halt of the project, but a variety of aspects combined hampered its progress.
Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the previously identified factors are only partly ad- dressed by an adapted TIS framework by Ortt and Kamp (2022), which has been applied at the end of the research, due to its claim that it had an improved managerial perspective for companies working in a niche environment, trying to bring their technology to a wide market diffusion.
The possibility of generalizing the conclusions regarding the crucial factors regarding stakeholder participation for a company working on an SHP project in the Netherlands are limited due to the specificity of the project and the limited number of stakeholders and perspectives that could be gathered. Therefore, it is suggested to investigate additional hydropower projects in the Netherlands, compare them with the Bosscherveld case, and see whether the concluded factors can capture the dynamics there as well or if further refinements are necessary.","TIS analysis; Energy Transition; Stakeholder Analysis; Semi-structured interviews; Mental Models","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ed33c9c3-6c50-4e69-a554-62b01406b4e2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ed33c9c3-6c50-4e69-a554-62b01406b4e2","Drivers and barriers of the implementation process of a digital B2B freelance platform","Geelen, Giliam (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:93901519-d992-4724-8ef9-6d80b3129d0f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:93901519-d992-4724-8ef9-6d80b3129d0f","Switching from Open Source to Cloud Protection License: What is the impact on Community Health?","Koch, Joel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","De Stefani, J. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (graduation committee); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This thesis studies companies which developed open source software but adopted cloud protection licenses, a novel type of software licenses which protect their business from competitors but potentially affect their open source communities. It addresses the practical problem of executives of the companies who miss information about the effects of the license change on the health of their community. From a scientific perspective, there is no existing research about cloud protection licenses. The thesis presents the required background information, including software licenses and commercial open source software. It considers community activity and community structure as indicators of community health and presents corresponding research. Five propositions about the impact of the license change are presented and examined using data from projects of MongoDB, Elasticsearch and Redis by creating visualizations using CHAOSS and Python scripts. First, we expect that changing the licensing terms from an open source license to a cloud protection license leads to reduced community activity. We evaluated both major types of community activity, technical activity and social activity, and could not find support for the proposition but contradicting developments in all projects. Second, we expect less individuals joining the community. Here, the decomposed time series data indicates contradicting developments in the projects of MongoDB and Redis. Third, we expect more community members leaving the community. When assessing this proposition, we found that the decomposed time series data is congruent with the proposition in the project of MongoDB. However, the data of the projects of Elasticsearch and Redis indicates no support for it. Fourth, we expect increased knowledge concentration among individuals in the community. To evaluate the knowledge concentration among community members, the onion model is applied which associates each member with a role for each quarter. The development of the shares of the onion roles within the community is analyzed, and the results contradict the proposition. Fifth, we expect increased knowledge concentration considering organizations in the community. To examine the last proposition, the proportion of contributions authored by employees of the respective company is determined for each month and the development evaluated. There is no contradicting evidence in the data and the developments in the projects are congruent with the proposition. In summary, the data indicates that the impact of a license change to a cloud protection license on community health is rather small and constrained to the concentration of knowledge in respect to organizations. Therefore, we can recommend executives to adopt a cloud protection license if it addresses the strategic needs of their companies. This thesis continued the research on the impact of choice and change of software licenses on open source communities by including cloud protection licenses and previously disregarded aspects of community structure. It relates to the Management of Technology study program by taking the perspective of companies to analyze the effects of their strategic choices on their open innovation processes. By studying the effects of a license change, it examines a problem that is located at the intersection of technology, organizations, and strategy.","Open source; Software Licenses; Community","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:248b1c65-2c7f-4fff-bd41-8c3f9e1331df","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:248b1c65-2c7f-4fff-bd41-8c3f9e1331df","Development of a decision support for the selection of a sustainability assessment method for technology development in the aviation industry","Peters, Elena (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hakvoort, R.A. (mentor); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Reich, Nathalie (graduation committee); Born, Johannes (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","Sustainability is a crucial topic in the day to day life as well as in industries. With the help of innovation and new technologies, the negative impacts on sustainability can be decreased. During the development of technologies, the concept of sustainability should be included at all times. This can be done with the help of sustainability assessment methods. However, companies (like the case company of this study) often only adopt one or a few sustainability assessment methods in their product development process. These methods might not necessarily be suitable for the technology under investigation. Furthermore, guidance on when to use which method can be identified as missing within the literature and in practice.
This thesis study aims to fill this gap by developing decision support for the selection of a sustainability assessment method during technology development. Coming from a comprehensive set of sustainability aspects (social, environmental and economic), during the thesis the focus was put on the environmental aspect exclusively. A literature study is used to identify a set of the possible sustainability assessment method. The identified methods are compared to a set of selection criteria based on the method's acceptance, type of assessment, and sustainability pillar covered. Four methods/method groups are identified as suitable for the defined criteria and the study scope. The selected methods are analyzed in more detail to gain a deeper understanding. Based on the knowledge acquired, a flow chart is developed to support selecting the most suitable sustainability assessment method. In order to be able to compare the selected assessment method with other available method, a ranking is developed. The ranking is based on a qualitative comparison and data obtained from the literature. The ranking is displayed in two ways, by a set of spiderweb diagrams and a ranking with numbers. A partial validation of the developed ranking is done by applying two methods to a use case and comparing the practical results with the theoretical ones. Here a mismatch between the ranking obtained from the theoretical data and the one from practical experience can be identified.
The result of the study is the development of decision support consisting of a flowchart and method ranking. Once both steps are followed, it should be possible to provide a fast and easy method selection for non-experts. Furthermore, the common practice of using only one sustainability assessment method (Life Cycle Assessment) is looked into. It can be seen that no sustainability assessment method is best in all criteria and application cases. Therefore, it is impossible to define one most suitable method in all cases. Choosing the right method depends on the scope (substance, product, or material) and the intended outcome. Thus, relying solely or predominantly on Life Cycle Assessment cannot be recommended. Alternative methods should be adopted and applied, also within the case company.
As the market leader in the garment care industry, Philips Domestic Appliances aims to drive the global conversions of the iron industry from dry iron to steam iron. However, Indonesia is the only nation that does not engage dominantly in conventional trade but still has dry iron dominating the market. With the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the world's fourth most populous nation, and a total of €41 million market value for the iron market in 2021 (GFK, 2022), Indonesia is regarded as an important market for Philips Domestic Appliances. New low-end steam irons are being prepared by Philips Domestic Appliances to help with the conversion, but the Indonesian market is reluctant and there is not much understanding of Indonesian consumer behaviour. To convert Indonesian consumers from dry iron to steam iron, Philips Domestic Appliances must first understand the consumer behaviour and then develop a strategy to develop the market. Therefore, the aim of this study is to give insights about the consumer goods market in Indonesia and to create a strategy to develop the market.
This research objective is captured by the study's main research question:
What are the key factors for defining a company’s strategy when developing the Indonesian consumer goods market?
In order to answer the research question, a number of sub-research questions have been formulated and addressed. This study employs exploratory research methods to investigate how consumer goods companies in Indonesia can develop the market. By conducting semi-structured interviews with seven experts from the Indonesian market and analysing market research, a qualitative research approach is performed. Consumption values are used to identify consumers' reasons for buying a certain good, and the 4A framework is utilised to assess the current marketing strategy of Philips Domestic Appliances and to develop a strategy for developing the market, as the 4A framework is best suited for emerging markets like Indonesia.
The answer to the main research question is that a company can define a strategy to develop the market after first understanding the market. The researcher contributed by establishing a step-by-step process for developing the market by identifying the key factors, which are the main actors and factors influencing the consumer goods in Indonesia, key partners, consumption values of Indonesian consumers, main barriers and opportunities in Indonesia, and then evaluating the current marketing strategy using the 4A framework. The A's that need to be improved, combined with market insights, served as the foundation for creating a strategy.
The study reveals that consumers are the main actors in the Indonesian consumer goods market, with price and market trends being the most significant factors. The company's key partners are retailers, and the three most essential consumption values are functional, emotional, and conditional. High wattage is a significant barrier for consumers, and having a good partnership with a creative agency would be beneficial for communicating the product value to consumers. Indonesians generally prefer low-priced products, but they are willing to pay a higher price for products that they think offer great value for money. Lastly, there is considerable growth potential in the market as long as the company contributes not only with innovation on products but also by educating the market to raise awareness of them.
Philips Domestic Appliances has the potential to launch a new steam iron product, but with several requirements based on the 4A framework and market insights. To increase Acceptance, they should educate the market about the benefits of the product and suggested creating a low-wattage steam iron with a spray and a clear watertank. For Philips Domestic Appliances, a 400-650W steam iron is advised to improve affordability. To ensure Availability, they must maintain their current, effective distribution strategy. Finally, to raise awareness, Philips Domestic Appliances could benefit from word-of-mouth marketing, identifying group opinion leaders, and having demo products in offline stores.
Following this study, Philips Domestic Appliances now has a strategy and recommendations on how to launch their new steam iron and develop the market. Moreover, this research is beneficial to the consumer goods industry in Indonesia, as it provides insight into the Indonesian consumer goods market and provides a step-by-step guide for developing the market.","Consumer goods; Indonesia; 4A Framework; Consumption Values; Strategy to develop market; Developing market; Steam Iron; Iron; Consumer goods market; Market development; Strategy for developing the Indonesian consumer goods market; Study for steam iron","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","" "uuid:a7143c3b-1c60-4487-a060-53a5fff7cc86","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a7143c3b-1c60-4487-a060-53a5fff7cc86","The Dutch energy model-policy interface in crisis","Vierhoven, Lauren (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pfenninger, Stefan (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Gusheva, E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","" "uuid:2dffdd9b-bf93-4016-9b89-ff6e9ad9cf9a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2dffdd9b-bf93-4016-9b89-ff6e9ad9cf9a","Becoming green while flying blue","Spadon, Timo (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; KLM Royal Dutch Airlines)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2023","This thesis investigated the transition towards sustainable aviation technologies using a macro and micro perspective. For the macro perspective the seven function model of an Technology innovation system was used. The micro level comprised a case study at KLM using theory of Melissa Schilling, Strategic management of technological innovation. The method was qualitative in which several interviews were performed with industry experts and innovation experts at KLM.
We first analyzed the existing scientific literature by apreliminary search, which was also used to construct a more detailed andrefined second search. In this second search, we used the PubMed database tosearch for articles containing the keywords hospital and healthcareresource, pandemic, model, validation, andsynonyms. Then the returned articles were screened for relevancy, resulting ina total of 25 healthcare resource models analyzed. Within these analyzed models(and articles), we found that the most common approach is using SD models, andthe second most common approach is using regression models. Roughly two-thirdsof the models fall into these two categories. Furthermore, we found that there isa stronger focus on hospital resources than public health resources and that nocommon approach is used for model validation. We also found that the articlesdemonstrating that the model is used to support real-life decision-making wereusually not about SD models; therefore, examining how to use SD healthcareresource models for decision support is not mainstream. We also found that themodel used in our research is novel in the sense that it encompasses resourceson a more detailed level than existing published models.
To further our understanding, we decided to answer ourresearch question by holding a workshop, where we examine how to communicatemodel outputs. While examining the relevant modelling methodologicalframeworks, we defined the tasks that need to be done in this thesis throughthe lens of the modelling cycle. We need to perform the tasks of verification,validation, and holding a workshop, which partly encompasses evaluation. Thenexamining the literature about verification and validation, we encountered theimplication of a well-known philosophical problem of scientific theories' formodelling: It cannot be demonstrated whether the model (or the theory) is atruthful description of the phenomenon.
To overcome this problem, in modelling, validation refers tobuilding confidence that the model is fit for its purpose. In this study, thepurpose of the model changed from describing the different mechanisms foundimportant to generate semi-realistic outputs to be used in the workshop;therefore, it had to be revalidated. This was addressed by performing aparticular set of relevant validation tests. The model passed verification andthen the validation for this purpose, so we continued with the workshop. Wedecided that in the workshop, we would use a presentation to communicateintervention opportunities for the pandemic based on the model outputs. Thenafter each intervention, the participants were asked to evaluate the easinessof understanding the output and to talk about what actions the presentedinformation inspire.
By holding the workshops, we found several relevant facts:First, it was found that the goal participants were searching for was to getrid of the perceived gap. This also meant they were searching for insights thatcould be used for operational planning purposes. Furthermore, the analysis doesnot need to stop at visualizing outputs. One of the participants indicated thatfurther analyzing the graphs is not as easy for them as for an analyst workingwith the model. We have also seen that participants tend to augment thepresented data with their experiences, which (unless explicitly presented)leads to assumptions about how the model works. Some participants also pointedout that the contact tracing part of the model is already outdated (in lessthan a year). We have identified some practical ways to avoid ambiguity whilecommunicating about healthcare resource models. First, we found that despitethe insights we gained by analyzing model outputs were not novel, thediscovered scenarios were still good discussion starters in the workshop. Thisis likely the mechanism of the scenarios acting as a reminder for passiveknowledge, which participants subsequently shared. Furthermore, extra careshould be taken to explain the context of how the data got generated, especiallyconcerning the model. As the presented data left some space for interpretation,participants sometimes had different assumptions than the ones coded into themodel. While these could be resolved in the workshop to some extent, this willnot be the case for the dashboard. Given some familiarity with the audience, itis possible to expect some questions and misunderstandings, which could beproactively addressed in a description or in a `frequently asked questions'. Wealso identified two presentation types that were easier to process thanpresenting key model outputs: The first option is to analyze key model outputsfurther than graphing and present the key insights (such as peak resourcedemand) in a tabular format. Alternatively, the second option is to build allvisualization on the same template and explain that template on the firstoccurrence in detail. In subsequent occurrences, it should be enough to pointout only the interesting parts and give participants time to process theinformation.
From another perspective, participants expressed a need fordata that can be used for planning purposes. However, given the uncertaintyabout the system, these, as we call consolidative models, cannot be constructedyet. While exploratory modelling is an alternative SD technique for addressingdeep uncertainty, it does not attempt to produce numerically accuratepredictions. However, from a novel perspective, the consolidative andexploratory approaches can be viewed as two ranges on the spectrum ofuncertainty about the modelled system. Viewed from this perspective, validationmeans reducing uncertainty about the system. Nevertheless, to achieve theconsolidative models, datasets about resource usage are needed, but as far aswe know, no such dataset exists. As data to create such datasets is probablyalready being collected for operational purposes, it is likely that thecollection and aggregation of these data are not happening. However, creatingsuch datasets comes with some challenges. There is a value trade-off betweenprivacy and preparedness through data collection, and the current datacollection techniques are unlikely to be unified. Overcoming these challengeswould need quite a significant upfront investment. To answer our originalquestion of how to support healthcare resource managers in acquiringsituational awareness, this thesis argues that, by far, the biggest utilitycould be achieved by strengthening data collection and aggregation, as itenables the possibility to develop surrogate models. However, as this requiresa significant upfront investment, question-driven exploratory models remain analternative way to address these uncertainties.","Healthcare; Resource; System Dynamics","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d2a8d675-2c8e-4db5-b935-fb81569a990b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d2a8d675-2c8e-4db5-b935-fb81569a990b","Performance Assessment of Industrial-scale n-Caproate Production utilizing CO2 as Feedstock: A comparitive study between different n-caproate production pathways at the Port of Rotterdam","Nieuwesteeg, Arlette (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ramirez, Andrea (mentor); Lieu, J. (graduation committee); Virla Alvarado, L.D. (graduation committee); Luo, J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The Port of Rotterdam is one of the largest CO2 emitters of the Netherlands. One method to reduce its emissions is by implementing carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies. In this research two different CCU routes for industrial-scale n-caproate production are compared. The first route utilizes microbial electrosynthesis (direct route). The second route uses syngas formation via electro-reduction combined with syngas fermentation (indirect route).
Based on the European Union's technology readiness level, the maturity of both routes is ranked as 3 to 4. This indicates that both routes are in the demonstration phase. In this phase scientists play an important role, as the focus is on researching the technology's overall feasibility. It is also the phase in which financial barriers are the most pressing. Early-stage investors can help overcome these barriers, by allocating (financial) resources. Nonetheless, an assessment method taking both scientists' as well as early-stage investors' perspectives into account is missing. This research contributes to filling this knowledge gap.
The methodology applied is bricolage, using a mixture of literature research, simulation data and interviews. Data of the direct route is retrieved from literature research. To obtain data of the indirect route, a simulation is made in Aspen Plus v12. An overview of important assessment parameters are acquired via the conducted interviews.
In total 15 participants are interviewed, of which; 8 scientists working on CCU technologies, 5 early-stage investors, 1 governmental policy executing party and 1 NGO. These interviews, combined with metrics found in literature research, led to an overview of parameters to be assessed for a performance analysis.
Overall, 10 metrics are selected and used for the performance assessment. These include technical, economic, environmental and strategic metrics. The technical assessment showed that the indirect route has a significantly higher energy consumption compared to the direct route (0.35 GJ/kg caproate compared to 0.1 GJ/kg caproate). However, the indirect route has a higher production selectivity towards n-caproate. The economic performance assessment resulted in a lower CAPEX and OPEX for the direct route. Still, for both routes, the minimum n-caproate selling price is below the current n-caproate market price. The net carbon footprint of the indirect route is 7.3 kg CO2 per kg caproate, indicating that a significant amount of CO2 is being emitted during its production.
While an analysis at this maturity stage of the production routes comes with uncertainties, it gives a first sound indication of its performance and bottlenecks. For the indirect route, the energy consumption is dominated by the two electrolyzers used and the downstream processing. This energy consumption is also the main contributor to the OPEX (47%) and the carbon footprint (79%). Another factor largely responsible for the carbon footprint are the emissions during fermentation (19%). The main cost item of the equipment cost is the water alkaline electrolyzer (42% of total cost).
To conclude, the indirect route shows the potential of industrial-scale n-caproate production with a high selectivity. Nonetheless, it is key to reduce its energy consumption and implement more efficient off-gas recycling to improve its techno-economic and environmental performance.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c55ee599-238c-40a6-a0be-33fca35f9c51","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c55ee599-238c-40a6-a0be-33fca35f9c51","Brand identity of business-to-business start-ups and its association with brand relevance: Graduation project MSc Management of Technology","van der Zalm, Anne-Lokke (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Dolkens, T.L. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Rook, L. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","One of the biggest challenges start-ups encounter is establishing themselves within the market. A widely recognized contributing factor to increasing chances of outrunning competition, is the implementation of a branding strategy with the purpose of creating a strong brand identity. Whether investing in developing a brand identity is profitable, depends on the brand relevance of a company. Brand relevance is the level of the overall role of brands in customers’ decision-making. Business-to-business start-ups have access to limited resources, hence it is important to them to only invest in creating a brand identity, when their level of brand relevance shows that this would be profitable.
The current exploratory research combined a desk research and a qualitative panel study to gain insight into the presence of an association between the two, as well as which factors are considerd to be of influence to the perceived brand identity.
Using a desk research, the level of brand relevance for a total of 30 start-ups related to the Delft Technical University was determined. Next, a focus group was hosted to gain insight into which factors are considered to be important to the perceived brand identity of B2B start-ups. Four overarching aspects were indicated: brand personality, corporate visual identity, clarity of the product/service and its relevance, and clarity of the competitive advantage. Furthermore, the current research aimed to investigate whether an association between the level of brand relevance of B2B technology-based start-ups and perceived brand identity was present. The results of the focus group were used to test whether this association was present. In the scope of this research however, no association was found.
The research provides start-up entrepreneurs with hands-on tips on which factors influence their perceived brand identity which makes it managerial relevant. The academical relevance can mainly be found in recommendation for future research, since this should show whether the absence of an indicated association between brand relevance and brand identity, can be explained by the absence of awareness among B2B technology-based start-ups.","Brand identity; Start-up branding; Business-to-Business; Brand relevance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:28868618-ee73-4bd8-b706-3a41933d61b4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:28868618-ee73-4bd8-b706-3a41933d61b4","Business Models Dynamics for Dutch Technology-Based Startups: A Proposed Framework to Overcome Critical Junctures","Kharbeet, Ghassan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Khodaei, H. (mentor); Hinrichs-Krapels, S. (graduation committee); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Technology-based startups entail creating and developing sustainable value by capitalizing and commercializing new technologies, which accelerates the growth of the startups and promotes economic sustainability. Unlike new technology developed in commercial firms, technology-based startups go through a process of transformation from a non-commercial to a commercial environment. In this process, they may lack knowledge, network, or resources and face different critical junctures. In recent years, emerging startups have been confronted with difficult changes in their business environments. The life spans of the business models are drastically shortened by technological advancements and shifting patterns of client demand. Companies must continuously examine their established routines and procedures if they want to survive and grow in such unsettling environments. Therefore, in order to succeed, the technology-based startup may require market testing and business model adaptation.
By combining insights from the literature, this paper presents a comprehensive framework that conceptualizes business model dynamics. The framework includes different origins of business model change and different types of business model change as well as the growth stages and junctures. Following the conceptual framework's construction, the effectiveness of the framework is evaluated using explorative case studies of six Dutch technology-based startups.
The results indicate that all startups changed their business model often in the credibility juncture. In the early stages of development, the changes are often forced and caused by external factors, and when the startup matures, it has more freedom to make strategic decisions, particularly in credibility and sustainability junctures. Startups with lower market, managerial and entrepreneurial knowledge changed their business model frequently in a response to challenges, like resource constraints, while startups that were able to acquire knowledge were able to grow faster, access resources, and seize opportunities effectively. Finally, first movers to a specific market confronted technological challenges and changed their business model more often than other startups.
This research looks at this issue from the perspective of the value proposition design process. This process assumes a definition of potential benefits and uses on the side of the developer, aligning, and communicating them with the potential users. Specifically, the Value Proposition Creation model is used, as it is a method often used by AI startups and university spinoffs. The main question this research asks is “What are the factors influencing the specific value proposition of innovative AI solutions”. By answering this question, the paper hopes to establish a method for understanding the specific aspects of the AI solutions that should be taken into consideration while designing an effective value proposition and communicating it with the potential user.
To answer the research question, an in-depth look is taken at the Artificial Intelligence adoption processes. First, a literature study helps define the factors involved in the AI adoption. A conceptual model is created, which is then evaluated via a series of semi-structured interviews with AI research and development experts. By doing so, the relationships between the factors are obtained and a general impact on the adoption process is understood. This allows for a formulation of the relationship of said factors with the Value Proposition Canvas. Additionally, literature research is conducted on the value proposition frameworks, which allows for a definition of good practices in value proposition design in relation to the Artificial Intelligence solutions. The obtained frameworks are then tested in a single exploratory case study, which looks specifically at the idea of Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms used as a decision-making method in the context of road maintenance planning.
The research provides an overlay on the Value Proposition Canvas, obtained through the evaluation of the AI adoption process. Such approach creates a framework, which then can be used to effectively define and clarify the individual values, benefits, gains, and features of an AI product. Moreover, by providing the interrelationships between the adoption factors, understanding of the internal dependencies of factors necessary in the product development process can be obtained. The framework can be used by developers in the field of Artificial Intelligence to assess the necessary requirements of the solution, highlight the key areas that have to be researched, as well as help in communicating of the crucial solution aspects with the potential clients and users. The framework can be best used in the context of an AI startup or a university spinoff, because of its generalist approach. It assumes a fast development of a value proposition, which is necessary in the context of a Minimum Viable Product definition.
The results of the research combine the adoption processes of the AI solution and the method for their value proposition, realized with the VPC. It has been shown that the adoption factors may play a relevant role in the value definition of the potential solutions. Because the adoption models may not be used directly in the VP processes, a framework of questions has been setup for the solution developers to reflect upon during the Value Proposition Creation. Such approach is in line with the general methodology of the VPC, as it uses questions to define the relevant fields of the canvas. The goal of the research was not to modify the canvas itself, as its intrinsic agility and simplicity is the core strength. Moreover, by looking at the common practices seen in other Value Proposition frameworks, good practices have been defined for the VPC in relation specifically to the Artificial Intelligence solutions. These results have been afterwards validated in the exploratory case study for the Deep Reinforcement Leaning decision-making system in the field of road maintenance, indicating the specific steps that the solution developer must undertake and creating an example Value Proposition Canvas for this specific case.
The methodology used to create this service design had a research and a design component. The research component is twofold, research is done on the available literature to gain insights in relevant state of the art literature. The next part of research is done on the internal processes of the company, in order to determine where opportunities lie regarding best practices as seen in the literature.
Following from this research, requirements have been determined on which the eventual service design has been created. Requirements follow from either literature, analysis of internal processes, or company instructions.
This project has shown that there is an opportunity to be captured by offering a tiered-based agreement with customers. Advantageous financial effects are a better grip on expenses on the customers end, making it a strong option compared to maintaining the product themselves.","Servitization; Service design; Product-service system; cutter suction dredger; Dredging","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e51f6dc0-649b-4463-866c-ad1a11996836","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e51f6dc0-649b-4463-866c-ad1a11996836","Affecting over-engineering with elements and factors of frugal innovations: The cases of the mobile phone industry and medical industry for the Bottom of the Pyramid","Jaggi, Vanisha (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); van Beers, C.P. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","This thesis focuses on frugal innovations and over-engineering in the mobile phone industry and medical industry. These industries often over-engineer their products and services. For the mobile phone industry, businesses strive to give ever-improving products and services to their most profitable and demanding customers while paying less attention to others who are less demanding. In reality, firms’ over-engineered products/services often beat less-demanding customers’ performance standards. On the other hand, over-engineering medical equipment is due to owing to standards and regulations. This makes it more difficult for people to access medical equipment. Not everyone can afford it and not everyone is capable of operating such sophisticated equipment. Frugal innovations aim to strive to lower the cost of products, services and systems for the Bottom of the Pyramid. To (partially) solve the problem described, the research objective for this thesis is to investigate the factors of frugal innovations to affect over-engineering in the mobile phone industry and for medical equipment in the medical industry by means of two case studies.","Frugal innovation; Over-engineering; Disruptive innovation; Mobile phone industry; Medical industry; Interview; Case study; M-Pesa; Philips Africa Innovation Hub; Reverse innovation; CHARM; Wind Up Fetal Doppler; INUKA","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f64bd56e-a4b7-4fea-8382-ddbef6318fd2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f64bd56e-a4b7-4fea-8382-ddbef6318fd2","Data Marketplace Aggregator: a study towards designing Aggregator Business Models for data marketplaces","Bisma Renata Artala, Bisma (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Abbas, A.E. (graduation committee); Çelik, E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The benefit of secondary use of data leads to the belief that data can be monetized through exchanging and trading between businesses. Many new data marketplaces emerge from this, resulting in the heterogeneity of the data marketplace that leads to market fragmentation in the industry. The aggregator business model can offer various values to users in a fragmented market. Therefore, the idea of designing aggregator business models for data marketplaces could be worthwhile investigating. Design Science Research (DSR) methodology is used in this research. Business model requirements to design aggregator business models were defined in the literature review. The business models of various aggregators are analyzed with case studies. From the requirements and case studies, four new aggregator business archetypes are derived: search engine, advanced search engine, comparison sites, and one-stop shop. These four aggregator business models are distinguished by their service offerings and their degree of the network. It is also discovered from case studies that there is a connection between the degree of network and aggregators' embedded technology. The high degree of network aggregators tend to use API, while the low degree of network aggregators tend to use information crawlers. The aggregator business model archetypes are then demonstrated to the data marketplace cases by translating the business models into business activities and services that can be offered to the users. Then, we evaluate the data marketplace aggregator business model through semi-structured interviews with experts. From the evaluation, it is discovered that data marketplace aggregators could offer value to the users, e.g., navigating users to find data sales and providing a single access point to collect data. Different technology aspects that could help to realize the aggregation services have also been developed by various projects. Additionally, data providers are willing to join the aggregation services due to the economic benefit. However, although the benefit and possibilities, multiple challenges need to be addressed by the data marketplace aggregator. There are issues with technical standardizations and interoperability that could be problematic in integrating various platforms for aggregation. Maintaining collaboration is difficult due to the need to provide data assurance, which could be expensive and exhausting. Additionally, although it is beneficial to navigate users in finding sales, data marketplace aggregators might offer little value to data buyers with market knowledge because they will directly buy the data from the sellers.","Business models; Data marketplaces; Aggregator; Business model design; Data economy; Digital Platform","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0937cd16-5213-487e-8d96-93dc13320205","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0937cd16-5213-487e-8d96-93dc13320205","Adoption of Blockchain Technologies in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain to Combat the Distribution of Falsified Medicinal Products for Human Use","Lopes Vieira, Mariana (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ubacht, J. (mentor); Rezaei, J. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","","Blockchain; Blockchain Technology; Pharmaceutical Industry; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:87a77bd7-adf0-4556-8c95-126d88fd2728","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:87a77bd7-adf0-4556-8c95-126d88fd2728","Preventing intellectual (near-) monopoly in digital education by developing free space for education technology development","LIU, RUOBING (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Naastepad, C.W.M. (mentor); van Eeten, M.J.G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","In this thesis I investigate possibilities for expanding freedom of choice in the development and use of digital education technologies. This thesis may be of interest to university policy-makers, students, professors, software-developers, or anyone interested in expanding freedom of choice in the development and use of digital education technologies.
This research aims to investigate possibilities for the creation of a free space in the cultural sphere for digital education technology to protect from intervention by intellectual (near-) monopolies. Intellectual monopolies are companies that build their wealth by excessive monopolising access to knowledge and converting it into intellectual rents, a type of intangible assets.
The thesis are examined against the background of an overarching perspective on society as consisting of three spheres. Legal-political sphere is to develop laws and regulations; Economic sphere is about production, distribution (trading) and consumption of goods; Cultural sphere is to generate idea and knowledge. In each sphere, there also are three aspects belonging to legal-politics, economics, and culture.
The thesis consists of two parts and adopts a macro-to-micro research framework. In the first part, the research focuses on the macro-socialistic level first and then zooms in to business level (education technology) by analysing existing literature. This part investigates how intellectual monopolies emerge, first in general and then more specifically in digital education technology, and how they reduce freedom of education. More specifically, the thesis identifies economic, legal-political and cultural factors that promote intellectual monopoly in the digital industry, and explains how intellectual (near-)monopoly in digital education (e.g. in online-learning platforms, LMSs or video-conferencing software) arises as a consequence of particular relationships between the economic, legal-political and cultural sphere, where governments and international organisations give laws and regulation (e.g. IP law, education laws and regulation, the standardisation of education) that support the concentration of R&D in a few giant digital high-tech companies and the growth of (near-)monopoly positions in the digital education technology market, enabling high-tech giants to extract what in this study is called ‘learning-related rent’ (tangible and intangible assets formed by controlling learning tools and learning content), and reducing freedom of education (the core component of the cultural sphere).
In the second part, the thesis zoom in further to the university level and examines the possibilities decision-makers at universities have to expand freedom of choice in digital education technology for professors and students through a case study of a Dutch university. An interview is conducted as the main method of the case study to collect data. From the interview results, legal-political, economic and cultural hurdles in establishing free space in choosing education technology in the cultural sphere have been identified.","Intellectual monopoly; education technology; academic freedom; knowledge generation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5d731b0c-51d2-4877-8bac-8156e8b0db1f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5d731b0c-51d2-4877-8bac-8156e8b0db1f","The Effect of European Environmental Regulations and Innovation Strategies on the Competitiveness of Intra-European Logistics Service Providers","van Meer Cordón, Alejandro (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","In the upcoming years, freight transportation demand is expected to increase, and thus, raise the environmental impact of logistics service providers (LSPs). Transport and logistic activities are the second-largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and have a significant impact on air quality, noise pollution, water quality, and, among many other, land take. In efforts to collectively reach the goal of reducing GHGE by at least 55% by 2030, compared to the 1990 levels, there is an increasing number of initiatives such as the Fit for 55 package, European Climate Law, EU strategy on adaptation to climate change, CO2 emissions from transport, EU emissions trading system, effort sharing, land use and forestry, and clean energy. Through these initiatives, governments aim to fight climate change and drive urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing citizens’ health, well-being, and economic opportunities. As part of the transport and logistics industry, LSPs play a significant role in changing the current trajectory of GHGE and other environmental problems. However, not many companies are acting upon these issues, and those who are, have not been ambitious enough. Some of the reasons include: the highly competitive, low margin, and capital-intensive market LSPs operate in, as well as the high level of green investment needed, the uncertainty of their payback period, the lack of employees with a focus on environmental initiatives, and the lack of a well-defined regulatory framework and financial incentives. In this context, research indicates that many of the barriers are highly influenced by how regulations are designed and how governments support LSPs in improving their environmental performance. To this end, many researchers have evaluated the relationship between environmental regulations, innovation, and a firm’s competitiveness. In this regard, evolutionary economists believe that environmental regulations can trigger innovation that may partially or more than fully reduce the costs of complying with them (increase in competitiveness) (i.e., Porter Hypothesis). In contrast, neoclassical economists believe that this “win-win” situation does not exist. To this date, the overall findings of the Porter Hypothesis have been inconclusive and context specific. Therefore, the objective of this study is to carefully evaluate the Porter Hypothesis in LSPs and understand whether environmental regulations are appropriately designed, understand the importance of the involvement of LSPs in the development of environmental regulations and provide insights on how they can design practical corporate environmental approaches. More specifically, the main research question the study aims to answer is: “Under which conditions can European environmental regulations increase competitiveness for Intra-European Logistics Service Providers (LSPs)?”...","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:04ffce46-0adb-48a7-911c-510c759a1ecb","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:04ffce46-0adb-48a7-911c-510c759a1ecb","Becoming a quantum safe organization: Why it is important and how to get there: Exploring the need and readiness for quantum safe communication, and the strategies that can be formulated as a result","ter Haar, Marnix (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3a74b1ed-a5a8-448f-8d61-dcd004801ced","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3a74b1ed-a5a8-448f-8d61-dcd004801ced","To eat or not to eat: Cultured meat and its barriers ahead in transition","Voogd, Joris (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Doorn, N. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Wiarda, M.J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Conventional meat (CVM) and the related livestock industry are considered to contribute significantly to negative environmental impacts, animal suffering and threats to public health. Nevertheless, the demand for meat is still growing which is majorly due to global population growth. Lab-grown cultured meat (CM) is anticipated to be environmental-friendlier, animal-friendlier and potentially allows for public health benefits. However, it is not yet introduced in the market and faces multiple development challenges related to the technology, consumer acceptance and socio-politics. Furthermore, while CM stakeholders possibly aim for a meat transition, the challenges are hardly addressed in transition context. Transitions are generally studied across the levels of landscapes, regimes and niches using the Multi-level perspective (MLP). Moreover, Strategic niche management (SNM) can be used for assessing the internal processes that determine the success of a niche. On the basis of the MLP, SNM and the CM niche industry, this research therefore is intended to answer the following research question: What are the barriers to the transition of cultured meat from niche to regime perceived by stakeholders? Hence, this study provides niche stakeholders insight into supporting and accelerating a CM transition. For this purpose, the case of the Dutch CM industry is chosen. By means of conducting interviews with academic, business, government and society stakeholders combined with an analysis of related policy documents, 12 barriers are identified. The landscape level involves mutually reinforcing barriers (The environmental paradox & The Dutch political climate). The CVM regime level also involves reinforcing barriers that provides its dominant and stable character (Socio-Cultural lock-in, Techno-Economic lock-in, Institutional-Political lock-in and Regime perspectives). The CM niche industry level in turn, involves barriers that impede the process of the articulation of expectations (Operational constraints & Imagining), impedes network formations (Insufficient incentives & Network disunity) and impedes learning processes (Limited accumulation of knowledge & Dependent on innovation diversity). As these niche processes also reinforce each other, the CM niche industry possibly is entangled in a vicious circle, affecting niche nurturing and hindering reciprocal interactions between the levels. The barrier interactions and reciprocal interactions between the levels combined, determine that the window of opportunity for a CM transition is potentially only limitedly on the rise. Moreover, the effects of moderate landscape change, gradual regime reorientation to the landscape, limited institutional change and an insufficiently well-developed niche, are indicators that the transition is potentially on a transformation pathway. Based on the theoretical implications of this study, future research should aid a better articulation of niche expectations by the CM industry to attract new stakeholders and enhance learning processes. Furthermore, studying the CVM regime capabilities and specifying intentions in relation with CM, especially since the regime barriers could become CM enablers, potentially gives further insight into how the transition could be governed. With regard to practical implications, the potentially occurring transformational directionality failures could be addressed with mission-oriented innovation policies. Moreover, the possible transformational demand articulation failures would optimally be resolved if participation possibilities with the general public for exploration would be implemented. The mentioned failures also relate to transformational reflexivity failures for which CM stakeholders should anticipate the effects that impact the pathways for transition. Furthermore, when comparing the used policy documents with the interviews, the documents predominantly address the need for facilities and incentives regarding the CM niche industry. Although this also is constructive and necessary for the establishment of the Dutch CM industry, the influential landscape and regime developments are hardly considered. Hence, addressing the regime with true pricing for CVM and the landscape with implementing societal challenge-based mission policy instruments, possibly also accelerates the transition. Although CM is still fraught with uncertainty and has not yet been introduced in the market, approved by the regulatory authorities and is yet to be scaled up, it could have a major impact on a better sustainable future. In the end, as it will benefit all, that projection in itself makes CM worthy of further investigation.","cultured meat; transition; Multi-level perspective; Strategic niche management; Barriers","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3be54d73-4f64-4642-9e35-54fdb3375532","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3be54d73-4f64-4642-9e35-54fdb3375532","Design of a Decision-making Business Process for Transport Method Selection of Shell Chemicals: A Process Balancing Decarbonization, Cost and On-time Delivery Key Performance Indicators in Transporting Chemicals to the European Customers","Shirvani, fatemeh (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Bots, P.W.G. (mentor); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","This thesis project investigates the applicability of different sustainable transport methods for delivering chemical products to the European customers and a decision-making business process is derived from that. So, a set of representative lanes are selected to be involved in this project and the hauliers responsible for those lanes are asked to provide available sustainable transport option for each lane, CO2 emission reduction by the options, cost and on-time delivery as affected KPIs by the options. At the discussion with senior sales managers this info is communicated, and it emerged that there are many other factors than the three main KPIs that determine the applicability of an option for the representative lanes. They are visualized in a decision-making business process that balances the KPIs for determining the applicability of an option for a lane. the design is then validated by applying it on representative lanes and comparing the result with haulier responses. It emerged that the design suggests the applicability of fuel change, payload increase and renewing trucks options for the lanes that have currently direct road transport method. The design results in 13.60% total emission reduction for lanes with any current transport method and 19% for the lanes with current direct road transport and 6% logistics cost increase with no effect on on-time delivery.","Decision Making; Business Process Model; Sustainable Transportation; Logistics cost; On-time delivery performance; CO2 emission reduction; Chemical products transportation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2024-09-21","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0311d692-2eb4-4496-8de4-e80bcbb7811f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0311d692-2eb4-4496-8de4-e80bcbb7811f","The Psychology Underlying Pregnancy: Investigation of Social Comparison Processes and Their Projection in Natural Language","GOPALAKRISHNAN, KIRAN (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Rook, L. (mentor); Lefter, I. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","In addition to the physiological alterations that occur relatively predictably during pregnancy, psychological transformations also occur at the same time. The baby is developing, but so are a mother's fears and imaginations about her unborn child. Such imaginations about the unborn child and parenting methods are sure to evoke a range of emotions, including happiness, excitement, curiosity, anxiety, frustration, and maybe depression. Social comparison and intense emotional expression are two of the numerous opportunities offered by social networking platforms. Social comparison is a personality characteristic. Individuals who are highly social comparison-oriented make excessive social comparisons and are more affected by the outcomes. Social comparisons can be done intentionally, but more frequently they are done involuntarily. Social networking sites play a key role in the contemporary digital age in terms of personal experience sharing and constructive debate. However, research has found that the need for social comparison increases at times of stress, uncertainty, or adjustment. As a result, in unexpected and upsetting settings like pregnancy, social comparison may become more significant. The social comparison, psychology, and linguistics aspects of pregnancy had all previously been the subject of very few research, however, they had been done so independently. The objective of this research is to jointly comprehend the social, psychological, and linguistic aspects of pregnancy. In this research, a survey that was published on Reddit communities collected responses based on three questionnaires (Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure, Gratitude During Pregnancy Scale, and Tilburg Pregnancy Distress Scale), as well as a textual question on using social media while being pregnant. A correlation and linear regression analysis were used in this study to investigate the association between the three sub-scales and the selected LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) categories. In conclusion, considering the general inadequacy of information in the domain of pregnancy care and the imminent transition to digital care, the findings of this study could make a significant contribution to social and psychological research.","Social Comparison; Pregnancy; Linguistics; Natural language; Psychology; Social Media; Explorative Study; LIWC; Text analysis","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f6e34396-8038-47dc-a92a-ce4a6fd3e027","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f6e34396-8038-47dc-a92a-ce4a6fd3e027","Business-to-Business data sharing via data marketplace meta-platforms: Exploring governance mechanisms to enhance data sovereignty","van Velzen, Thomas (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Zuiderwijk, AMG (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Abbas, A.E. (graduation committee); Schouten, Bram (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Modern organisations are increasingly dependent on data to develop new products, services and to improve their operations. However, they are increasingly dependent on external data resources which has led to the rise of data marketplaces where data are traded. This rapid rise of data marketplaces has led to a fragmented data sharing landscape resulting in data discovery issues for data consumers and a lack of trust by data providers. Recently, the concept of platforms to integrate different data marketplaces to reduce fragmentation has arised: data marketplace meta-platforms. However, these platforms still need to make sure that data providers stay in control over their data, as data providers will otherwise not be willing to share data at all. Staying in control over data for data providers is about data sovereignty. As data marketplace meta-platforms can reduce fragmentation in the data marketplace landscape, but relatively little is known regarding how data sovereignty can be achieved in that context, this research project explores governance mechanisms to enhance data sovereignty for data providers in the context of data marketplace meta-platforms.
Using existing literature, four antecedents of data sovereignty were identified: data ownership, data access, data usage and data storage. Next, the current state of existing data marketplaces and data sharing initiatives was analysed using industry literature and insights from expert interviews. This analysis indicated that the use of a common legal basis among participants of data sharing ecosystems is often the first step. Additionally, processes were data providers arrange a data sharing agreement with data consumers and certification of entrants and participants are adopted in practice.
Analysis of the data marketplace meta-platform context identified three areas of challenges for data sovereignty in the meta-context, namely DMMP-ecosystem where data providers fear DMMP-dominance. Secondly, at the level of the data provider, there is a lack of capabilities to estimate required control and to estimate the value of data assets. Thirdly, data access and usage is difficult to arrange at the level of a data transaction between data providers and consumers. The use of DMMPs to exchange very different types of data, across different industry sectors further complicates the process of granting access and arranging data usage.
Using findings from the expert interviews, three categories of solutions were identified: architectural, trust-related and technology. Architectural solutions are about the structure of the DMMP and how decisions rights and ownership are distributed across the platform and its users. Trust-related solutions are both about building and sustaining trust, for example by use of certifications, and by increasing autonomy for data providers. Lastly, technology-related solutions such as data tagging and labelling can help to enhance visibility over the data chain and to further help data providers to stay in control over their data.
This research contributes to this challenge by comparing the economic attractiveness of windmills expressed as Net Present Value(NPV) with annual added wind capacity in five countries for 2008 till 2019. The countries used for this research are Germany, Denmark, Canada, Texas and Sweden. This research found an exponential relationship between the NPV and added wind power capacity. A 10% increase in NPV(AC/MWh) found an increase of 15% for the annual added wind capacity(MW/TWh) of added windmill capacity per TWh of electricity produced. The vast amount of data sources used could have lead to a higher uncertainty regarding their uniformity and trustworthiness. Doing a sensitivity analysis yielded no improvements in the results. The simple economic model used was able to describe the growth in wind energy in countries, though there is still a significant spread in the results. A likely explanation for this spread is the lack of several important aspects such as permits, company influences, cultural differences and social-economic challenges which were all not taken into account. This research also makes several recommendations regarding possible policies countries could in order for them to reach their wind or clean energy goals.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:24bcb36d-c702-493c-81f0-4bf1acbf99f8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:24bcb36d-c702-493c-81f0-4bf1acbf99f8","Sociotechnical imaginaires of green hydrogen energy storage","van Wijk, Marco (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Doorn, N. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Wiarda, M.J. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","In order to combat the global climate crisis, our energy provision needs to be decarbonized. One of the potential methods that can help is Green Hydrogen Energy Storage (GHES). GHES is a complex technology/energy carrier combination. It comprises of a conversion process of renewable electricity to hydrogen to then be used for conversion back to electricity at times of high electricity demand and low renewable supply e.g., in winter. Describing sociotechnical imaginaries on this technology/energy carrier combination can provide better alignment of the technology/energy carrier combination with the normative ideas of actors & stakeholders. The research question is thus formulated as: “What are the different sociotechnical imaginaries of green hydrogen energy storage (GHES) in the Netherlands?” These sociotechnical imaginaries will be described by using Q method. The scientific relevance is twofold. First, insight into the conflicting and overlapping imaginaries on this topic. Second, methodological because Q method is relatively new for studying sociotechnical imaginaries. The master Management of Technology is organized around technology, innovation, organization, commercialization, engineering economics, research, and reflection. Research and reflection are by design embedded in this research thesis and technology and innovation are connected because the aim of the thesis is to describe the sociotechnical imaginaries of GHES in the Netherlands and to have that knowledge be utilized by the stakeholders to better align the technology to the sociotechnical imaginaries. And finally, organization relates to the industry stakeholders who will be aware of desired technology futures and can innovate towards those desired futures. The imaginaries have been named: [1] “We are hydrogen-optimistic and critically realistic”, [2] “Hydrogen: a driver for economic opportunity”, [3] “We’re not excited”, [4] “Welcome state intervention”, and [5] “Hydrogen storage is the way to go but be aware of big industry”. The first imaginary mainly describes how hydrogen should be a part of the energy mix, not the sole solution. The second imaginary emphasizes the economic opportunity that GHES can have with an emphasis on cooperation between parties. The third imaginary shows that there are respondents who feel concerned for climate change, but don’t see hydrogen as a solution at all. The fourth imaginary sees government intervention as the only way to facilitate this transition. The final imaginary shows that there is a concern for social implications on who will benefit from the transition towards GHES. Practical and theoretical implications are subsequently formulated to better align the technology/energy carrier combination to the normative ideas of stakeholders. According to the respondents, the case looks promising for GHES as there is agreement on GHES becoming a part of the Dutch energy mix. Methods of achieving this goal are e.g., a higher fossil fuel tax, development of technology standards, and the need for international cooperation. Furthermore, conflict items are defined, as is also the goal of Q method, the degree of the focus of economic development, the role of the government to guide and intervene, and the focus on the social implications of the transition towards GHES. These conflict items could be addressed according to an agonistic approach by utilizing social learning and reflexive governance. These practices defined in the literature that have gained eminence and are becoming more accepted. Pertaining to the theoretical implications, sociotechnical imaginaries as a concept fall short of describing the normative future visions as expressed by the respondents. Other scholars have also recognized that the concept might miss diversity in future visions because of its singular interpretation. However, it has been proven possible to, in a quantitative manner (using Q method), describe the sociotechnical imaginaries of around 3/4 of the respondents. The results of this study could be thus for further research be placed in a different social concept such as one of the concepts in the rich umbrella of foresight studies. An example being ‘normative scenarios’ which recognizes more diversity. Another implication is that it is also possible to use Q-method to peek in the ‘black box’ of wicked problems. The results show that conflicting visions about the future could be better understood in the context of contestation, uncertainty, and complexity (in other words; wicked problems). Additionally, according to the results, private sector stakeholders are divided on their views of GHES, meaning that shared value creation using open innovation is problematic. An alignment of normative future visions or even a possibility of open innovation without such an alignment is designated as a direction for future research.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:bd0b99e4-a68c-4909-8ecb-a53ae6d90453","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bd0b99e4-a68c-4909-8ecb-a53ae6d90453","Determining the preferences of different functionality levels regarding dynamic pricing in combination with electronic shelf labels in the Dutch food retail industry - a Bayesian BWM approach","Valentin, Mick (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); Dolkens, T.L. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","For decades supermarkets have been seen as very conservative. However, it seems that food retailers are increasingly taking a proactive role in implementing new technologies in the food retail, shaping decision-making process from their own sales perspective. This research aims to identify the preferences of different technology implementation level scenarios in the Dutch food retail industry. This is done by applying a more qualitative approach, whereby less data is required to produce reliable results. As such, a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making method (MCDM) approach is used, wherein the Bayesian Best-Worst Method (BWM) is applied to determine the optimal experts preference of the identified technology implementation level scenarios. This is done within the context of selecting new adaptive technologies in the food retail industry and with the application of qualitative tools such as constructing the BWM and structured interviews with experts. The technology implementation level scenarios consists of obtained relevant scenarios with a combination of different functionality levels regarding dynamic pricing in combination with electronic shelf labels. This research contributes to the empirical application of the Bayesian BWM, in the specific field of implementing dynamic pricing in combination with electronic shelf labels in the food retail industry and proves that determining the preferences of these scenarios can be predictive by applying the aforementioned MCDM approach as well.","Bayesian BWM; Food retail; Dynamic Pricing; Electronic shelf labels; Multi-Criteria Analysis; Supermarkets","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:984d4874-9023-4069-a5fc-cb5f2cbc9966","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:984d4874-9023-4069-a5fc-cb5f2cbc9966","Waiting with Architectural Technical Debt: An empirical analysis of the relation between architectural technical debt and software development speed","Bosch, Hanne (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Bharosa, N. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Bergmans, Lodewijk (mentor); Bijlsma, Dennis (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:eb96a29c-8bea-41d2-8653-510be5a4352e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:eb96a29c-8bea-41d2-8653-510be5a4352e","Factors Affecting De Jure Standards’ Adoption by Dutch High-Tech Start-Ups: An exploratory, comparative case study into the factors affecting de jure standards’ adoption by Dutch high-tech start-ups and the potential influencing thereof by the Dutch standards organization.","Eggink, David (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The effects of standardization on entrepreneurship are a research field for which a lot still needs to be done. In particular, there is little research into the adoption of de jure standards by entrepreneurs. These standards are the product of committee-based standardization, which is when committees consisting of stakeholders that are related to the respective topic are coordinated by formal standards organizations to come to a consensus and formalize a standard. De jure standards are applied by for example governments to assist companies in complying with regulations but are not necessarily compulsory themselves. The factors affecting the adoption of these standards by high-tech entrepreneurs and the effects that they have are a relevant topic for further research. Thus, the research objective of this thesis is to investigate which factors affect the de jure standards adoption by high-tech start-ups, and within the scope of the Netherlands. In addition to this, the thesis also aims to discover if the factors effecting de jure standards adoption are possible to influence by the Dutch standards organization (the NEN), and if so, how.
This thesis is setup as a theory-building, explorative case study consisting of 3 rounds of data collection. The first is a literature review into the studies of de jure standards adoption and the determination of which major recurring theories and frameworks are applied in these studies. Three major recurring applied theories were found, the diffusion of innovation, neo-institutionalism and the network economics approach applied in the TOE framework. A list of potential factors was formulated from the factors applied in the relevant studies, using the aforementioned theories and frameworks. The literature-backed list consists of: (1) Perceived relative advantage, (2) Perceived compatibility, (3) Perceived complexity, (4) Observability, (5) Competitive pressure, (6) Environmental uncertainty, (7) Mimetic pressure, (8) Coercive pressure, (9) External support, (10) Normative pressure, (11) Management support, (12) Centralization, (13) Formalization, and (14) Organizational size.
This list of factors was used as a basis for the 2nd step of data collection in this case study: the 1st round of semi-structured interviews. This 1st round of interviews consisted of interviews with 6 cases: 5 Dutch high-tech start-ups and a NEN official. The interview transcripts were codified and analyzed to determine which factors the start-ups identify, and which effect they mention the factor has. Factors were also mentioned that were not included in the literature-backed list. These were axially (thematically) analyzed to formulate new propositional factors. The transcripts were then analyzed again to determine if the new propositional factors were mentioned by the others as well, and which effect they mention. This data is used to build upon the literature-backed list of factors. The result is thus a list of factors consisting of literature-backed factors that were identified and the new propositional factors. In other words, a list of factors that the high-tech start-ups and the NEN official identify. This list consists of: (1) Perceived relative advantage, (2) Perceived compatibility, (3) Perceived complexity, (4) Environmental uncertainty, (5) Mimetic pressure, (6) Coercive pressure, (7) External support, (8) Normative pressure, (9) Management support, (10) Centralization, (11) Formalization, (12) Organizational size, (13) Awareness/prior knowledge, (14) Processual characteristics, (15) Trust in evolution of standard and (16) Costs. The effects of the standards were also collected, interpreted and discussed. A significant outcome is that there is a distinction between the adoption of a single standard and the adoption of a combination of standards and that this can be seen as a factor, which has a moderating effect on certain other factors.
The last round of data collection consisted of a 2nd round of semi-structured interviews with 2 cases: (1) a NEN official and (2) two standards organization experts. These interviews were to determine which factors the cases identify as possible to influence and how. The results of this are that the cases identify the factors of coercive pressure, awareness/prior knowledge, trust in evolution of standard and costs as possible to influence.
This research is one of the first studying the factors affecting de jure standards adoption by high-tech start-ups. There are multiple points of contribution to theoretical literature: the aforementioned list of identified factors and their respective effects on de jure standards adoption, and the factors that were determined possible to influence.","high-tech startups; standards adoption; de jure standards","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b5bf6a88-5455-4111-bb83-5c8df7d5ccf8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b5bf6a88-5455-4111-bb83-5c8df7d5ccf8","The creation of a sustainable business model framework to foster the use of nature-based solutions in the Dutch building sector","Collenteur, Leon (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Khodaei, H. (mentor); Delgado Medina, Fátima (mentor); J.L., Zonneveld (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Nature-based solutions are solutions that (partly) consist of, or contribute to, living nature, which can provide economical, social and environmental benefits. Especially in the building sector they can have huge benefits over conventional (grey) solution as this sector uses a lot of resources and energy. The benefits that nature-based solutions can offer range from air purification to carbon sequestration to insulation. Even though nature-based solutions are known to have these benefits, large scale diffusion of nature-based solutions has not yet happened. The EU states that in “order for NbS to be implemented effective new business and partnership models should be created”. To foster the creation of these business models an appropriate business model framework is necessary. However, this framework was not yet existing. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to create a novel sustainable business model framework for nature-based solutions in the Dutch building sector. The novel framework was created through performing first literature research followed by a creation phase. This led to a preliminary framework which was then improved with the use of a focus group consisting of 7 experts from the Dutch building sector, who are currently working with, or involved with, nature-based solutions. With valuable insights and tips from the focus group the framework was then improved. This led to a framework consisting of a business model canvas supported by a few sections providing extra information. These extra sections help the user to fill in the business model canvas. On top of the improvements the focus group meeting also gave insights in how, and by who, the framework should be used. It became clear that the framework should primarily be used for creating an overview of an organisation, rather than for ideation. The framework should be used by organisations working with nature-based solutions and especially organisations who care about their impact and their ‘raison d’être’. The framework is a big improvement compared to the alternatives mainly because it is compact, but also comprehensive. It offers the user a way to perform a thoroughly impact assessment and the canvas includes many aspects/elements which are of high importance for implementing nature-based solutions.","Nature-based Solutions; Business Model Framework; Business Model Canvas; Nature-inclusive; focus group; Building sector","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d723844d-658b-4aaa-9432-90039544d58d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d723844d-658b-4aaa-9432-90039544d58d","Role of IT Technologies in fostering Business Transformation: Case study of Philips","Gaonkar, Bhushan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Khodaei, H. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Pals, Hugo (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The term ""digital transformation"" (DT) has gained popularity, sparking interest across many academic fields and inspiring new lines of inquiry(Hausberg et al., 2019). With the adoption of new technologies helping deliver secure high-quality patient care and drive greater business efficiency, healthcare sector has gained significant benefits from digital transformation. Digital technologies, driven by the exponential rise in computing power, have successfully altered the majority of economic sectors, from finance to entertainment, with one notable exception: healthcare. The increasing advancements in medical equipment and imaging technology serve as evident illustrations of how high-tech medicine is in many aspects. Nevertheless, healthtech companies are still on a learning curve on how to transform their companies digitally, despite billions of dollars being invested in digital health solutions by both startup and established technology companies(Walsh & Rumsfeld, 2017).
This study advances the body of knowledge in the field of digital transformation by identifying the barriers to and enablers of business transformation as well as the role of IT technology as an enabler of business transformation. By creating a theoretical framework for barriers and enablers of business transformation with IT technology as an enabler, it empirically studies Philips to undertake a case study and offers a basis for theory building. On the subject of business transformation, a literature review utilizing the five-step grounded theory methodology was carried out. According to the literature study, this research highlights four primary barriers facing business transformation: organizational, knowledge, financial, and technical. Strategy, people, process, data, and technology are the different categories for business transformation enablers. The theoretical framework for this study is developed using the results of this literature review. A case study is performed on the digital transformation journey of Philips by identifying the IT technologies of the acquired firms that are part of Philip’s healthcare transformation portfolio. This research captures the goal of business transformation while identifying the barriers and enablers of business transformation at Philips by conducting inductive qualitative research by interviewing. Analysis of data is carried out by following the steps stated by Miles & Huberman (1994) and using content analysis to analyze the interview data. The results of this study show that At Philips, the organizational barrier has emerged as the most pervasive barrier to business transformation. This study demonstrates that Philips' organizational structure, or the way they are set up, is a significant impediment to business transformation. The matrix organizational structure of Philips makes organizational change challenging. According to researchers, business transformation begins with establishing a strategy and achieving the organization's aim. According to the research, this strategy is misleading, and that any business transformation strategy should be developed by first comprehending customer demands before being in line with the intended outcome of the business transformation. According to this study, people with proper experience and knowledge in the field of business transformation are the key enabler of business transformation. This study supports the resource-based hypothesis, which contends that an organization has a great chance to outperform its rivals when it possesses strategic resources that can provide it an advantage in the market and could even help it generate sizable profits. This research examines three important IT technologies provided by the acquired companies of Philips, namely Tomtec, RDT, and Capsule technologies as resources that can enable business transformation. According to this study, Philips' business transformation was made possible by the IT technologies' significant contributions to the company's sales and revenues following the acquisition of these companies. By integrating these IT resources into other products in their portfolio to facilitate business transformation, Philips can further develop these technologies and achieve their objective of becoming a fully solutions-based firm. However, the findings of this study also suggest that IT technologies have not yet reached their peak value since Philips lacks the competencies and innovation culture to fully utilize these technologies and add value as a result of preexisting limitations.
To achieve this, the main research question for this study is formulated as follows:
How do team-dynamics in technical firms affect the entrepreneur's intention to exit the start-up and the chosen exit strategy?
To answer the research question, a qualitative method was used, namely the comparative case study by using contrasting cases. The case studies are created by conducting interviews with management team members of technological start-ups/scale-ups. This contrast between cases is created by using a quadrant that divides the cases into “entrepreneurial exit incidents” and starting and more developed start-ups/scale-ups. Furthermore, the semi-structured interview is created by doing a literature review. Out of this literature review, multiple propositions were derived, and a conceptual model was formed. Afterwards, the propositions and conceptual model were the guidelines for the interviews. Lastly, the literature review was based on the sub-research questions.
12 case studies were formed, which were analyzed first individually and second cross-case. For the individual analyses, an open code method was used. For the cross-case, axial coding. Lastly, to find something coherent, selective coding was used.
The conceptual model created with the literature cannot be supported by the case studies. However, out of the cross-case analysis, new interesting hypothesis have been formed. Such as 1. The friendship of the founding team and how they met are directly correlated with the homogeneity of the team. 2. Conflict in the early stages most happens because of a lack of entrepreneurial experience and an unclear separation of tasks. Furthermore, homogenous teams are more likely to have an unclear separation of tasks. 3. Conflict in the later stages of the companies is mostly related to different core values between management team members.
Each of these relationships could be interesting for future research, such as how fast certain milestones are reached within a homogenous founding team and a heterogenous founding team. How could this early unclear separation of tasks be improved? This could be a bigger issue for homogenous teams where people have similar skills and interests. Lastly, how could management team members be selected for long-term value and minimal conflict?","Entrepreneurial exit; Entrepeneurship; Team dynamics; conflict; Management team; Executive team","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","Master Thesis",""
"uuid:00df3790-2617-441d-8803-8486005dd40e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:00df3790-2617-441d-8803-8486005dd40e","Second-Order Adaptive Network Models for Shared Mental Models in Medical Teamwork for Neonatal Resuscitation","Xu, Yida (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Groeneweg, J. (graduation committee); Treur, J. (graduation committee); Roelofsma, P.H.M.P. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","A medical error indicates that the expected action has not been completed in the medical treatment. Patient safety defined as ‘the prevention of harm to patients’ is a vital concept in medical teams and is essential in improving quality of medical treatment. Safety culture is defined as “the product of individual and group perceptions, attitudes, values, competencies, and patterns of behavior that decide the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organization’s health and safety management”. The terminology for safety has evolved from a focus on error to patient safety to adopting a safety culture with adequate shared mental models. That evolution reflects a process of shifting responsibility from individuals to the whole organization. More recently, scholars is advocating medical organization to get rid of blame culture and embrace just safety culture. Blame culture is a set of organizational norms and attitudes characterized by being reluctant to accept responsibility or to take risks for errors because of being afraid of criticism or management blame. Just safety culture refers to a culture that encourages open dialogue to promote safer practices. On the face of it, healthcare organizations should quickly abandon blame culture and choose a just culture. However, it’s not easy to deploying a just safety culture in reality. Good implement of just safety culture in a medical team requires much teamwork effort. When it comes to teamwork effort, the shared mental model has received a lot of attention in the literature on medical team performance. A mental model means the intelligence that imitates relation structures of external processes. A shared mental model of a team means a large or complete overlap of the team members’ individual mental models. A useful method to analysis shared mental models of a team is adaptive network-oriented modeling, which refers to modeling complex processes by adaptive networks. The AI technology has the potential to help a medical team deploy just safety culture. But research on how AI can involve in the workflow of existing medical team is limited. Thus, in hoping of solving the problem: How can AI participate in the application of just safety culture to neonatal resuscitation? This study chooses these points to explore: how AI improves the efficiency of team communication, how AI leverages organizational learning, and how AI points out defects and prevents errors. From the perspective of result, these converge into how AI can help improve the performance of the medical team. That leads to the main research question of this research: How to use an adaptive network-oriented modeling method to analysis the AI-coach’s contribution in a medical team’s ventilation operation to save baby in danger?...","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","SMILE4Safety",""
"uuid:0c5ca507-aed9-4a89-bbfc-4b0e804750f3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0c5ca507-aed9-4a89-bbfc-4b0e804750f3","Taking into account first-mover advantages in the decision to enter the market","van der Burg, Silke (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","When attempting to enter a market, it is of the utmost importance to make a well-thought decision. Numerous academics have examined the first-mover advantage literature to determine whether entering first, second, or late is more advantageous. After many decades, there is still no consensus, and it appears that we are in a dialogue of the deaf. This thesis gives a list of first-mover advantages and disadvantages and discusses the symmetry between first-mover advantages and first-mover disadvantages, as well as first-mover advantages and second-mover disadvantages, in order to extent the topic. This list alone is not enough to settle the debate, so we introduce the pattern of development and diffusion. The pattern of development and diffusion contextualises the problem and shows the demonstrates the effect of first-mover advantages on the development of a product category. The relationship demonstrates that a setting can be either dynamic (a market entry has a substantial impact on the product category) or static (a market entry has little effect).
This thesis proposes a model to illustrate the factors that influence the decision to enter the market. Aspects that influence the formulation of a market entry strategy are included in the model. For the sake of simplicity, only the strategy to enter a market has been investigated. Next to the model, we created a flowchart that describes the steps required to develop a market entry strategy. Eventually the goal is to make a well-thought decision. The dialogue of the deaf on first, second or late being most favourable has been the cause of this thesis but the conclusion is none of those. The most important part of first-mover advantages and disadvantages is the effect they bring along with the entry into a market. This thesis claims that first-mover advantages are advantages and disadvantages that may be evaluated over the development of a product category, rather than belonging to any particular order. The weights of (dis)advantages differ over the course of the development so at different points in time, different advantages can be utilised. The first-mover (dis)advantages present aspects that can be utilised at a particular situation. The decision maker should foresee whether, given the current (dis)advantages, after its introduction the situation is most favourable or if the situation is most favourable when you wait, and competitors have entered the market. The combination of the pattern of development and first-mover advantages show this principle and show why the dialogue of the deaf on market order is not useful. The decision to enter a market has never been simple, and it likely never will be. This thesis offers direction for the decision-making procedure and explains how to comprehend it. The complexities of market entry decision making are not yet resolved, but a well-thought decision is getting closer.","First-mover advantages; market entry; Pattern of development and diffusion","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:86e207a3-bdf7-410c-add7-f62bba9ba80c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:86e207a3-bdf7-410c-add7-f62bba9ba80c","Exploring the Relationships of Generalized Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Written Texts and Personal Traits Among Chinese University Students","Xing, Yuxin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Lefter, I. (graduation committee); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Nowadays, mental illnesses are universal around the globe. However, compared with developed countries, the health budget assigned to mental health is much lower in low-income or developing countries (Mnookin et al., 2016). Even in China, a country with a large population, the epidemiological data on mental health (anxiety and depression) are too few to have sufficient understanding. Despite the current research that is to identify GAD and Depression from natural language, and seeks to explore the relationships of personality and GAD and Depression has until now not conducted in Chinese language. Besides, university students are a very noteworthy students, who are going through the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and facing a lot of challenges in this process. Therefore, this research explored the relationships of Generalized Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Natural Language and Personality Traits among Chinese university students.
To reach the objective of the present research, an online survey was conducted among Chinese university students, which consists of GAD-7, PHQ-8, BIS/BAS, and PANAS questionnaires, followed by a writing task to describe their feelings about university life and one anxious moment happened in the university. Finally, demographics were assessed. All the sample data were exported into .csv format and imported into the software JASP (JASP, 2017). And the text of the writing task was uploaded on LIWC 2022 software (LIWC, 2022) package, and on the statistical software SPSS for additional analyses.
Through the experiment, the main Research Question and Sub-Research Questions were answered and all hypotheses were accepted. By reflecting on the whole thesis, some limitations of the current research were pointed out and some suggestions were proposed for future work.","Generalized Anxiety Disorders; Depression; Personality traits; Natural language","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:45043955-0aeb-4997-976b-4a629802db6a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:45043955-0aeb-4997-976b-4a629802db6a","Exploring the Impact of Motivational Arousal and Generalised Anxiety Disorder on Language Use","Yuan, Rui (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Lefter, I. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","class=""MsoNormal"">Mental disorders are now becoming prevalent illnesses. More than 1 billion people globally were affected by mental and addictive disorders in 2016, which caused 7% of all global burden of disease (Rehm & Shield, 2019). Among those mental disorders, anxiety disorders and depression rank at the top. GAD is the most common anxiety disorder form in primary care, and the burden caused by GAD is severe in terms of decreased work productivity and increased health care utilization. The present study pivoted around GAD, studying the intersection between motivational arousal, language, and sympathetic activation. A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was designed and undertaken. The findings were satisfactory: Different arousal manipulation led to different language patterns of students. For example, negative (avoidance) arousal triggered fatigue-related words use. GAD inhibited motivational arousal effect on language, which extended the previous study that GAD people have ’diminished physiological flexibility’. Furthermore, sympathetic activation was observed during arousal manipulation, and the variability of Heart Rate (HR) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was significantly affected. Lastly, the ’diminished physiological flexibility’ of GAD people was also shown in the present study: GAD students experienced little change in Electrodermal Activity (EDA), HR, and HRV under motivational arousal manipulation","GAD; Generalized Anxiety Disorders; Language; chatbot; sympathetic activation; motivational arousal","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:09138a2a-3057-435c-bfff-e3f8c126480e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:09138a2a-3057-435c-bfff-e3f8c126480e","Virtual Leadership: Managing Remote Working in the New Normal Era","Tadema, Flore (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Santoni De Sio, F. (graduation committee); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The extensive and growing population of remote workers has left traditional leaders with many challenges managing a team remotely, and virtual leadership has been introduced as a remote management style. The increasing use of workplace surveillance technology in organisations has resulted in considerable debate over the years. This qualitative study aimed to explore virtual leadership in practice and investigate the potential of using workplace surveillance technology to support effective virtual leadership. The results of the research will provide an answer to the following question: “How can workplace surveillance technology support virtual leadership in the new normal era?”.
Existing research suggests that there is no single theory for virtual leadership and that more research should be conducted. The use of workplace surveillance technology lacks practical evidence and does not keep pace with continual change, vast technological advancements, and expectations by followers for transparency. The methodology used for this research consists of ten in-depth interviews with leaders and followers from the same organisation within three different sectors. Interviews were conducted utilising a semi-structured interview format. They produced data based on the lived experiences of virtual leadership and participants' views on workplace surveillance technology relating to whether virtual leaders could become more effective by implementing that.
The findings of this research supported that there is not a single virtual leadership style, and continual change was recognised as an ongoing theme. Acceptance of change, adaptability, and personal attention were necessary for successful virtual leaders. The participants indicated that they saw some potential in using workplace surveillance technology for virtual leaders under certain conditions. The research has found that threats to using sensitive data information should be considered before deployment. When considering the needs and threats, participants argued that this could result in more effective virtual leadership depending on how virtual leaders act upon the information being gathered. Therefore, it is recommended to consider the threat that there is not a standard design of workplace surveillance technology and the potential of this technology is context-specific. Additional research should be conducted to evaluate virtual leadership, in general, to understand motivations and barriers to widespread adoption regardless of the use of workplace surveillance technology. Further research should be conducted on the operational and practical issues surrounding workplace surveillance technology in virtual work environments.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:af140501-a2c8-4466-831c-1f187a7eca71","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:af140501-a2c8-4466-831c-1f187a7eca71","Sustainability and Circularity Challenges in Aerospace Engineering Education: for the sustainability transition","Antony Joseph Valiaveetil, AJV (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Aerospace Engineering; LDE Center for Sustainability)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Schuurman, M.J. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The aerospace industry and TU Delft have set stringent climate goals for themselves and with each passing year, these goals seem all the more implausible. While sustainability in the aerospace industry is envisioned as futuristic, circular, net-zero aircraft, the change rarely comes from the grassroots. Although these technological solutions are undoubtedly our liberators from long-term climate change, there is relatively less focus on the education of engineers who grow up to design these machines. This thesis follows a bottom-up approach which can stimulate pro-environmental attitudes among future aerospace engineers to give ourselves a fighting chance to mitigate climate change.","Sustainability; Aviation; Aerospace Engineering; Education; Circularity; Bloom's taxonomy; Learning goals; Higher Education; bottom up approach; Pro-environmental behaviour; Social identity; sustainability in education; bachelor education; Delft University of Technology","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ec0e07fd-7a80-49e0-b1db-ec98a702798c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ec0e07fd-7a80-49e0-b1db-ec98a702798c","Introducing a fair network tariff system in the Netherlands","Burgers, Victor (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Bruijne, M.L.C. (mentor); De Vries, Laurens (mentor); Jonker, Martijn (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","What would you think if your neighbour, who owns a Tesla and therefore causes extra load on the already congested electricity grid and you would have to pay these costs? Feels unfair, doesn’t it? This is currently happening in the Netherlands and it concerns millions of households that consume electricity. Electricity consumers are currently paying for the extra loads that are caused by electric vehicles. Why do these consumers have to pay for other consumers that own Teslas? Why do these consumers have to pay without reaping the benefits? Why do these consumers have to pay for these costs while the fixed costs are rising through inflation and increasing energy prices (RTLNieuws, 2021)? Unfairness does not seem something to be desirable by society. So how does it suddenly arise? Unfairness of the network tariff system is in its core a cost allocation issue related to energy use. This issue is a recurring theme in the energy transition and it revolves around the central question of how we are going to divide the costs of the shift from fossil fuels to renewables. This question is currently a very relevant topic in the political and public debate and unfairness of the network tariffs further undermines the very necessary energy transition. The climate goals associated with this transition contributed to the development of sustainable energy technologies such as the electric vehicles, heat pumps, solar panels and wind turbines. The increasing penetration of these technologies cause extra costs for distribution system operators, the managers of the electricity grid. Electric vehicles, for example, congest the grid and therefore system operators will have to invest in the grid. The system operators will have to recover these costs from consumers through a network tariff system. The current tariff system uniformly distributes the costs for all households without making a distinction between heavy and light consumers. This means that consumers that cause extra costs for the system operators pay the same tariff as consumers that cause less costs. This was not a problem in the past because the differences in loads were small and inconsequential. This leads to an outdated network tariff system and causes unfairness for consumers. The system operators (Netbeheer Nederland) in the Netherlands luckily also recognize the seriousness of unfairness and therefore they initiated a multi-actor decision-making process with the goal of introducing a new network tariff system for small consumers in the upcoming years. This will be done in collaboration with a lot of stakeholders in the energy sector. The government (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, ACM), the energy suppliers (E-NL, Vattenfall, Eneco, Essent, Engie, Greenchoice), consumer organizations (Vereniging eigen huis, Consumentenbond, Aedes) and other stakeholders are involved.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-08-16","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2c287417-02f2-48f1-b47e-a65597374643","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2c287417-02f2-48f1-b47e-a65597374643","Sustainability Transition in the Dutch Chemical Industry: Drivers and Barriers of the Sustainable Transition","Hubert, Jitske (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Kamp, L.M. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Jacobs, Rik (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Climate change is getting increasingly more attention as the effects become more and more visible and new reports emphasize the urgency to undertake action. The chemical industry has a big role to play in the sustainability transition. The adoption and diffusion of sustainable innovations in the industry can help facilitate this transition. However, there are barriers in place that hinder the development of sustainability in the industry. Overcoming these barriers is the first step in accelerating the transition. However, driving forces play a role as well, by motivating companies to become more sustainable and helping them in the transition.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9af0702f-8a16-4825-96e7-a8731bdf937c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9af0702f-8a16-4825-96e7-a8731bdf937c","The Ideal Workplace Environment Post-Pandemic","Blonk, Vera (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Santoni De Sio, F. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has encountered remote working. During this time, employees have become accustomed to remote working habits, and a shift has been made in many lives toward a more flexible work-life balance. Nowadays, with the pandemic almost behind, it gives rise to the question, how will the ideal workplace environment look like post-pandemic? By conducting a broad and extensive literature research two frameworks were constructed and proposed, being, respectively, a productivity framework, and a well-being framework. On top of that, three categories involving the responsibility of these factors were proposed, being, respectively, the neutral, positive, and happy category, linked to the responsibility of respectively, the manager, colleagues, and the employee self. These frameworks and their corresponding factors were connected by the five needs of Maslow and linked to these categories. Resulting in a combined framework that showed promising connections between the productivity and well-being factors that are in need to be verified and validated. This was followed by a survey conducted over 56 participants, including a selection of the factors mentioned in the frameworks. Resulting in many qualitative information on how to establish the ideal workplace environment. However, due to the time constraints, the results of the survey are still open to be analyzed in a quantitative manner. The research was concluded with a part that draws the ideal workplace environment, and on top of that, some advice for managers on how to create their own ideal workplace environment, and how to better support their employees with the focus on remote work. All in all, managers should have an open communication style, be respectful, listen actively to the needs, preferences, and wishes of their employees, and keep up to date with the resources they can provide to support their employees. Resulting in an increase in the mentioned factors from the frameworks, which, in turn, could fulfill the five basic needs of Maslow, and helps employees to live up to their potential. When an employee is able to achieve this, their productivity and well-being will be improved, and they will make more and cost less, for the organization. Therefore, aiming for the ideal workplace environment will benefit all.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:86390e79-09ad-4a6a-bd2d-fa1ea8a4ff2c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:86390e79-09ad-4a6a-bd2d-fa1ea8a4ff2c","A New Method of Measuring Overall Warehouse Performance: An Automated E-Commerce Retail Warehouse","Mekhallalati, Obaadah (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Fazi, S. (mentor); Rezaei, J. (graduation committee); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Wammes, Maartje (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","E-commerce is rising in demand and sales are forecasted to reach 7.4 trillion dollars by 2025. Many products are shipped to consumers from warehouses directly rather than being displayed in a physical retail store. Smooth and effective warehousing operations are more crucial with the increased dependency on warehouses nowadays. More than 130 key performance indicators (KPIs) exist for warehouses. Often a summarized and meaningful metric is desired to give an accurate evaluation of the overall warehouse performance (OWP). The most common method of measuring OWP used in the literature is done using data envelopment analysis (DEA). However, it is difficult to find empirical evidence that DEA has significantly improved performance evaluation and benchmarking in actual non-production conditions. A new method for measuring OWP is explored using a widely accepted overall metric in the manufacturing industry, namely overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The use of OEE as a performance measure for warehouses or in logistics generally has not been researched extensively yet. The research problem lies in evaluating the overall performance of warehouses using a modified OEE framework. Therefore, a challenge to identify the components of a modified OEE for warehousing was present. Additionally, a modified OEE formula for the automated warehouse was made based on the major losses that occur in such warehouse. The nature of the items processed at a warehouse and the warehouse utilization stage impacts the KPIs to be considered by a modified OEE model. A framework for a modified OEE for warehouses was developed using these inputs. It was agreed that one of the main uses of an OWP measure lies in reporting performance to different stakeholders, mainly the warehouse contractor. Additionally, using OEE can give insight to areas of improvement which gives a science-based ground for continuous improvement. The research was done using a single case study in the inbound part of an automated warehouse for online clothing retail with an industry leader. Expanding this research into other warehouse areas is suggested, and a final OWP using a modified OEE model may be achieved after numerous iterations and case studies. Further quantitative analysis of the performance of OEE as an OWP can validate the results more. It is argued that a universal indicator of some sort using OEE can be achieved in the future, this can then be used for benchmarking alike warehouses.","Overall warehouse performance (OWP); Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE); KPI; Warehouse; OEE; Logistics; Supply Chain","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:865a75c3-acfb-42bf-bc33-86e6dcaed60a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:865a75c3-acfb-42bf-bc33-86e6dcaed60a","Rooftop PV in Indonesia: A Niche Development Analysis: A qualitative study to analyze the niche development using Strategic Niche Management (SNM) with complementary insights from Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and Business Model","Riando Hotasi Sirait, Riando (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Quist, J.N. (mentor); Hoppe, T. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","To achieve 23% renewable energy by 2025, 29% emission reduction by 2030, and net zero emission in 2060, Indonesia needs to accelerate the transition to renewable energy such as solar energy. Despite the abundant solar energy potential, the contribution of solar PV has only reached 0.05% of the energy mix in 2021 (MEMR, 2021). The development of solar PV face challenges such as land availability, land acquisition, geographical problem, and timely permits (Patil et al., 2017). A niche rooftop PV serves as an alternative to solve these problems. This study focuses on rooftop PV niche development in the sustainability transition of Indonesia.
The sustainability transition is a complex process due to the involvement of various stakeholders (Geels et al., 2017). Moreover, Indonesia's high dependency on fossil fuels adds complexity to the transition. Therefore, it is necessary to study the development of rooftop PV in Indonesia to investigate factors influencing the niche development, address the sociotechnical aspect, and identify barriers and opportunities for broader diffusion. This research uses qualitative analysis by adopting Strategic niche management (SNM) with complementary insights from the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and business model. A case study was selected to gain a clearer understanding of different rooftop PV business models in three provinces (Jakarta, Banten and West Java). The data collection was conducted using interviews with 15 respondents from various groups and desk research. The study aims to answer the question, “How has the rooftop PV niche developed in Indonesia, and to what extent do business models influence niche development?”
The results show that rooftop PV was initially developed in the 1990s through a solar home system innovation in Sukatani village. Landscape factors influencing niche development are low electrification in rural areas, the Asian financial crisis, energy security, climate change, covid-19, and international market pressure. At the regime level, factors include development plan (e.g., Repelita), regulation (e.g., net-metering), and dominant stakeholder PLN (e.g., permit approval) founded influencing the niche development. Another factor, such as the learning process (e.g., demonstration project, survey, and knowledge transfer), provided learning to the technical, policy development, and public awareness. The result shows niche development of rooftop PV faces financial, institutional, policy, technical and awareness barriers. Niche actors have implemented business models to overcome the barriers. The host-owned business model is developed to provide access for the consumer to be prosumers who can benefit from the feed-in tariffs. The third-party business model enables users to overcome the high-upfront cost barriers. Meanwhile, the cooperative business model operated by KUD emerged using grants in the early 1990s to facilitate the coordination of the increased participation of international donors, banks, suppliers and villagers. However, the role of the cooperative business models has decreased due to the economic crisis and the decline in the use of rooftop PV in rural areas.
Lastly, this study shows the importance of shielding strategies in supporting Indonesia’s rooftop PV niche development. Therefore, this thesis recommends that the government should consider and systematically use the shielding concept in formulating regulations on energy transition.
of air pollution. Therefore, improving air quality is high on political agendas in modern societies. In the Netherlands, particularly around major roads, NO2 standards set by the government are often exceeded. Air quality models are used to monitor air quality values and design policies to reduce air pollution. Currently, authorities in the Netherlands use a Gaussian Plume Model for decision-making, but this model paints a rather skewed view of reality due to
its underlying assumptions. This research contributes to academic
knowledge about air quality modelling by evaluating two innovative model types, a physics-based LES model and a data-driven regression model, for their usage in decision-making to improve air quality. This is done by comparing the performance of both models with the performance of a Gaussian Plume Model for predicting NO2 levels around a large highway in the Netherlands. Also, two
combinations of the LES model and the regression model are examined. It is concluded that both the LES model and the regression model show potential for accurately predicting air quality around highways in the Netherlands. The LES model is particularly suitable for predicting high NO2 levels, and the regression model is considered suitable for predicting the average NO2 levels over a longer timeframe. A model in which the LES results were combined with a
regression model outperformed the original models and is therefore considered to hold the most potential for usage within air quality
policy.","Air quality modelling","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1637c181-54bd-46ed-8ae2-ddf52f019bab","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1637c181-54bd-46ed-8ae2-ddf52f019bab","Determining factors that dominate the adoption of quality standards in the semiconductor industry: a BWM approach","Jurg, Maarten (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The topic of standardization is an underexamined research field. Let alone the specific case of quality standard adoption in the semiconductor industry this study focuses on. Quality standards are developed to distinguish low from high-quality products and set up production and development processes. Once standards have been developed, it is not guaranteed that companies will adopt them. Factors often influence adoption. In this thesis, the fictional name GCpuSol is given to an existing company in the semiconductor industry that adopted two quality standards, the ISO 9001 and ISO 13485. This name stands for Gpu Cpu Solutions. Due to privacy concerns the real name of the company has not been given. Both standards are quality management standards, on which they are periodically audited. With these two quality standards, GCpuSol formed an excellent company to study which factors affect the likelihood of adopting this category of standards. Hence, the main research question is which factors affect the adoption of quality standards in the semiconductor industry, according to experts? Factors have been found by conducting a literature review and by interviewing experts. First, three theories are examined that describe factors on the adoption of innovation and standards; the neo-institutional, network economics, and diffusion of innovation theory. Also, the Technology Organization Environment (TOE) framework has been used to find factors. After that, four structured interviews were followed with experts to find additional relevant factors. Consequently, a list of fifteen relevant factors was derived. The factors are: pressures from government organizations, pressure from non-government organizations, pressures from customer(s), pressures from big player(s), pressure from supplier(s), mimetic pressures, normative pressures, management support, centralization, formalization, organization size, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, and observability. These factors are separated into three categories: pressure from (external) stakeholders, organizational characteristics, and perceived characteristics of quality standards. Then, the factors had to be ranked by weighting them with a Multi Criteria Decision Making method; the so-called Best Worst Method is used. This research method was conducted with ten experts. Data from eight of them was consistent enough to be used for the remainder of the study. It turned out that the factors: pressure from customer(s), pressure from big player(s), and management support are the three most relevant factors. Based on quotes from the experts and the BWM results, it can be concluded that quality standards are adopted because they are a must-have for doing business. Customers and big players impose pressure on their clients to adopt quality standards. Pressure from customers describes customers that cannot be chosen, and business is done directly with these companies. Pressure from big players describes the companies that can be chosen; their influence can be denied by not doing business with them. However, their pressure will be transmitted via their customers to other companies in the value chain. The factor management support describes that the top management team makes the final decision on whether to adopt. Adoption will only happen when this group of employees agree. Thereby is it also the case that GCpuSol wants to distinguish themselves in this industry and that they are willing to work hard, structured, and orderly to accomplish goals. This led in the first place to the adoption of ISO 13485. They were among the first companies that adopted the ISO 13485. This study is one of the first to investigate the adoption of quality standards by using a list of determinants and weighing them on their importance with the BWM. Some new contributions have been made to the existing literature on standard adoption and the literature from which the factors are derived. Multiple factors from the neo-institutional theory indicates a strong relationship with the adoption of quality standards and two factors from the category, organizational characteristics, that have been derived from the TOE framework. It turns out that the factors can be minimally influenced. According to the experts, pressure from other companies can only be influenced by conversing with them. Once a customer imposes the adoption of a quality standard, one must adopt it. Denial might bring the risk of losing that customer.
A theoretical conceptualisation is performed by means of modelling the social potential of a PPP project. The result from the conceptual model development is then investigated in an empirical setting (case study). Based on the analysis, an inventory of the potential costs and benefits of a PPP project is presented into two models: PPP project with actual tolls and shadow tolls. The similarities between the two models include the potential social impacts resulting from cost-saving investment, quality-enhancing effect, better risks management, and higher up-front transaction costs in a PPP project. Conversely, implications of PPP with both tolls also have different societal impacts due to distinct payment arrangement between them. Actual tolls provide users with incentives to decide whether or not using the road, since they have to pay the tolls independently. It is thus understandable if there will be a reduction in traffic volume on the road (mobility loss). Road users who decide to avoid such costs will experience a loss of consumer surplus. However, those who keep using the road will experience travel time gains due to less congestion. It is also important to note that mobility loss in PPP project with actual tolls will result in more societal gains, such as environmental gains in which less CO2 emissions would be generated on the road (less pollution). In contrast, the demand for the road use will not be influenced in PPP project with shadow tolls, thus neither environmental nor travel time gains can be obtained. Nevertheless, the private party would receive higher revenue. It has to be acknowledged this study is conducted on a positive case, where all potential impacts in the theoretical conceptualisation were confirmed in the empirical analysis of the Indonesian context.
To conclude, the key takeaway of the research is that in doing the CBA, outcomes of a PPP project compared to traditional public procurement is dependent on the way the tolls are implemented. The research shows the importance of distinguishing between PPP with actual tolls and shadow tolls. Reflecting on the theoretical conceptualisation and empirical analysis, there have been huge implications for the CBA outcomes since there are different potential societal costs and benefits to be expected in the two models. The significant implications have been outlined for the public party, the private party and the road user.","Public-Private Partnerships; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Transport Infrastructure; Societal Impact; Actual Tolls; Shadow Tolls","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:13ddeda6-cbf2-441a-9b9b-62532d6ca5cf","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:13ddeda6-cbf2-441a-9b9b-62532d6ca5cf","Design of maturity model for digitalization in retail supply chains: A case study in Ochama","Shi, Wenyi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Zhao, Owen (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","With the rise of the internet, mobile technologies, and, most crucially, e-commerce, the retail industry has changed dramatically in recent decades. Emerging digital technologies, such as information and automation, have recently made it feasible for even more types of retail business to exist. One of the key strategic themes for retail businesses in Europe, and indeed the entire world, is the digital transformation of the supply chain. However, many retail representatives have only a vague idea of the exact steps that need to be taken in the digital arena. The retail supply chain does not seem to know how to measure the actual level of its digitalisation, and it is not clear whether the current digital development of the supply chain is on a good track, thus lacking guidelines for further strategy development and investment. Previous studies have shown that Maturity Model (MM) helps enable retail companies assess their level of digitization. On the one hand, MM can help companies assess the gap between themselves and competitive benchmarks. On the other hand, it can help managers to have a more comprehensive and scientific understanding of the current digital performance of their companies. MM is a great tool for both comparison with competitors and internal optimization of companies. All in all, using MM not only helps to position an existing relationship on the maturity scale but also helps to identify areas where improvement is needed to achieve a higher maturity.","Retail supply chian; Maturity model; Digitalization; Model design","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3cb9e419-ea53-405a-9a71-e9d5ac9956b1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3cb9e419-ea53-405a-9a71-e9d5ac9956b1","Investor Club Member Decision-making: Why and how do investor club members choose specific investments from a set of validated and pre-approved options?","Kotter, Rik (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Çelik, E. (mentor); Hartmann, L. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","This study aimed to analyze the decision-making process and criteria of angel group members. These factors form the basis of the final decision of a member when they decide whether or not to invest in a start-up. To investigate this topic, the factors that affect member decision-making are investigated when these members receive a pre-validated set of investment options from an investor club. To collect data, eight interviews with members of one investor club in the digital health sector have been conducted. These members are of diverse member type and nationality to analyze differences between members. During these interviews, different factors that influence the investors, like regulatory approval or a strategic fit, have been indicated by members. Throughout these findings, differences of focus between different types of members were observed. In some cases, the service provided by the investor club does not line up with the strategy of members, posing a question for their future collaboration. This dissimilarity in strategy shows as well in the factors of importance for members. Where business angel members have many commonalities with traditional business angels and usually fit well with the opportunities provided by the club, especially corporate members focus on other factors. Because of these differences in focus between members, providing a satisfying service to all their members is complicated for the investor club. Creating a more synonymous member portfolio will lower the variance in member demands, allowing them to provide a better service. Although the results show many similarities between the decision-making of business angel members and individual business angels, this will need to be researched further to definitively come to this conclusion.","Investment; Angel group; Angel network; decision-making","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:622f39c8-6960-4be9-bf7a-10a0c5398586","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:622f39c8-6960-4be9-bf7a-10a0c5398586","Managing the Fuzzy Front End: Within the Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul","Lemmen, Danny (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Klenk, M.B.O.T. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Aviation Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) organisations are facing a lack of sustainable alternatives within MRO, which could aid a more sustainable operation geared to meet short-term climate regulations. Hence, they need to establish an idea evaluation process, allowing organisations to assess and prioritise generated ideas to assess which have the potential to contribute to the industry's decarbonisation.
This research aims to determine how innovative ideas can be assessed and selected to speed up the innovation process within aviation-MRO. In particular, the Front-end of Innovation (FEI) is researched as this phase is considered extremely important within the innovation process. The FEI is the first phase of innovation, ranging from idea generation to concept development.
This study utilised a mixed method approach to achieve the research objective, in which multiple methodologies are synthesised into one more extensive study. Firstly, extensive literature research was performed to determine the evaluation models applied within the existing literature. Next, industry-specific interviews were conducted to acquire standard practices within the aviation MRO. Thirdly, survey research was employed to tailor the idea evaluation model toward the aviation MRO industry. Finally, a case study was performed to determine whether the proposed case study could be applied within the organisational context.
The framework incorporates a stage-gate process, incorporating two evaluation moments named the initial screen and the preliminary evaluation. The first evaluation includes a checklist with five criteria, followed by an evaluation matrix incorporating fourteen criteria. Although the framework serves as the basis for the idea evaluation process, the case study revealed that there is no one-size-fits-all process. The organisation context impacts the evaluation criteria, meaning each organisation should individually assess which of the proposed criteria are deemed relevant within their organisation.
The framework proposed in this research provides a structure and tools to organise the idea evaluation process, which can aid organisations in enhancing the speed of the innovation process potentially. On this basis, the proposed framework can be utilised by aviation MRO organisations to accommodate the foundation of the idea evaluation process.
Utilizing a case study of ITT between a Chinese company and an acquired Dutch medical company, this thesis analyzes the role of three HRM practices: staffing, performance-related rewards, and training in ITT. Thus, bringing clarity on how more specific features within HRM can be utilized to improve an ITT performance. The case study also defines criteria for the ITT process and establishes the difficulties in an ITT process and the implementation of HRM practices. Then it analyzes the role of HRM practices in ITT.
Based on the contingency theorists, the assessment clearly addressed the use of HRM practices aligned with the business strategies. The research agrees that it is crucial to acknowledge the situation of the business context, which requires consideration of industry, organizational structure, resources, etc. Interviews are used to collect data. The details of implementing the HRM practices within the organizations are also introduced. The criteria for the ITT are defined. The connections between HRM practices and the performance of ITT are built. Then models are proposed for the effects of training, performance-related rewards, and staffing on successful ITT. The models are disassembled into details.
In the studied case, the use of the HRM practices can benefit ITT performance by benefiting collaboration and communication between two organizations, transfer of tacit knowledge, and technology integration with local industries. The influence of training is the most recognized among the three HRM practices. Hard skills training is considerably more efficient than soft skills training with acquiring tacit knowledge. Recruiting and training can also help organizations gain abilities outside the organizations. Internal mobility helps transfer tacit knowledge and experience from the technology-giving side. The influence of rewards is relatively small. In the organizations studied, intrinsic rewards influence more the motivations of employees than extrinsic rewards. Cultural and organizational factors can significantly affect the implementation of HRM practices and the influence HRM practices had on ITT.
This thesis investigates the effect of home ownership on the actual natural gas consumption and the EPG by descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression on a representative sample of the Dutch housing stock. The multiple regression analysis controls for building and occupant characteristics that are expected to influence the actual gas consumption and the EPG, in order to measure the ceteris paribus effect of ownership type on the actual gas consumption and the EPG.
The results show that ownership type does not have a practically significant effect on actual gas consumption or the EPG, while controlling for building and household characteristics. However, without controlling for these factors, there is a moderate positive correlation between home ownership and actual gas consumption, and a weak positive correlation between home ownership and the magnitude of overpredictions. This suggests that observed differences in gas consumption or EPG between ownership groups may be explained by building and household characteristics, rather than by potential behavioral differences. Specifically, the positive correlation between home ownership and actual gas consumption can be explained by the larger floor area, type of buildings, higher income, and larger household size. The positive correlation between home ownership and the size of overpredictions is explained by type of building and larger floor area. Thus, there are no major differences in energy consumption behavior between homeowners and tenants that cause large differences in their actual gas consumption or EPG. Nevertheless, the distinction of ownership type may still be of practical use to policymakers. Targeting homeowners could be an efficient way to promote energy-saving measures in the largest and highest energy-consuming dwellings.","theoretical gas consumption; actual gas consumption; home ownership","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f30513e3-060a-4765-93c0-78580896725e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f30513e3-060a-4765-93c0-78580896725e","Process Design for Digital Innovation Portfolio Management: Master thesis report","Srikrishna, Pranathi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Zuiderwijk, AMG (graduation committee); Scipio, Nick (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","This thesis focuses on designing a process for balancing and prioritizing the digital innovation project portfolio of a rental equipment company. The company operates in a traditional industry in which themes like digital transformation and digitalization are new emerging themes that are yet to be accepted by the industry. Therefore, in order to keep their businesses future proof, rental equipment companies need to focus on planning their digital project portfolio to meet their strategic requirements. This research was carried out in collaboration with Riwal Holding Group, a specialist in ariel work platforms (AWP) to design a process to manage their digital project portfolio and to check how feasible the process would be in a real-life setting.","Digital Innovation; Innovation Portfolio Management; Digital Transformation; Portfolio Evaluation; Portfolio Prioritization; Rental Equipment; Framework for portfolio management; Process Design for Innovation Portfolio Management; Project Portfolio Management","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:785d2e8b-5f96-4822-b608-7ad60c4f27bf","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:785d2e8b-5f96-4822-b608-7ad60c4f27bf","Factors Affecting Co-creation of Modern Horticultural Technologies and Practices in Southwest Nigeria: An Empirical Analysis","Hamza, Hadiza (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Minkman, E. (mentor); Goyal, N. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Over the years, the horticultural industry has seen growing awareness and implementation of more recent and modern technology and practices to achieve better results and increase efficiency, especially in farming. For developing countries like Nigeria, the horticultural sector needs to act quickly to meet growing food demands and overcome the many limitations in the industry. This is because there is a high failure rate due to different climatic and farming conditions when implemented directly in Nigeria with no altercations. To overcome this, co-creation has been proposed as a solution whereby the local farmers are given the opportunity to come up with and realize working solutions befitting their environment. This research thesis aims to explore the realistic applicability of factors that affect horticultural technology co-creation with local farmers in southwest Nigeria. An in-depth literature review to identify relevant and applicable frameworks on co-creation is carried out....","co-creation; Southwest Nigeria; Horticulture; Technology adoption; Behavioural model","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e721b626-e57c-49da-a0db-bb584a7f5f98","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e721b626-e57c-49da-a0db-bb584a7f5f98","Facilitating Organizational Decarbonization: The Development of an Enterprise Architecture Model for Carbon Accounting, Monitoring and Quantification","Badaltjawdharie, Prashant (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ubacht, J. (mentor); Blok, K. (graduation committee); Ligardo Herrera, I.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","","ICT; ICT Architecture; Enterprise Architecture; Enterprise Modelling; System Architecture; System Modelling; Global warming; Carbon accounting; System engineering; policy analysis; IoT; Data platform","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-07-20","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d3fb3217-3ac8-4021-a592-e4a623489b47","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d3fb3217-3ac8-4021-a592-e4a623489b47","Factors affecting the decision to develop MPC for Collective action in Financial Fraud Industry","Ho, Kenny (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Wagner, Ben (graduation committee); Agahari, W. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The financial domain is losing ground to rapid-developing fraud schemes. It puts intense pressure on organizations such as banks to find new approaches to tackle financial misconduct. This financial crime has always existed and is present in the financial industry. However, the rise of technology and the use of online transactions has enhanced the presence of the impact of fraud in this industry. The increase in financial fraud cases in a technological era result from a lack of inter-organizational synergy and the privacy concerns that entail by making data available. On top of the increasing fraud cases, organizations are exposed to increasing regulatory, financial, reputational, and legal risks. Hence, the financial crime industry and fraud prevention organizations must act on this threat. Therefore, these actors need to improve their current workflow continuously to keep up with the new developments. Different studies propose that it is a potential opportunity to take the chance and bundle data together to learn from the existing environment and improve their workflows and prediction models. However, the main concern is that parties are reluctant to share data as it involves confidential and sensitive data, which malicious parties can leverage and abuse. Also, the increasing focus on privacy protection regulations makes it complex and challenging to exchange data easily. The dataset that actors are providing will contain personally identifiable information, which in fact cannot be shared and proposed without any legitimate reason and is subjected to the data privacy regulations.
The existing set of techniques for sharing and analysing data securely, such as differential privacy, homomorphic encryption and federated learning have been proposed in studies and use cases are built in the real world. However, these techniques are insufficient and capable enough to facilitate multi-actor (data owners) data exchange and analysis. Secure Multiparty Computation, however, is capable of having multiple data owners securely perform a joint analysis. For this reason, this study has been focused on SMPC. In the case of the financial crime industry, it requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders sharing data simultaneously. Especially in the case of banks, it is essential to have bundled data for all transactions as these are connected.
To understand the purpose and the concept of the study, it is essential to have a basic understanding of SMPC. Secure Multiparty Computation is a cryptographic method for parties to mutually compute a function over all parties' acquired inputs while keeping the intake private throughout the entire process. Independent computation nodes will perform and provide analysis outcomes to designated parties. The concept of Secure Multiparty Computation has been studied by academia since the 1980s (Yao, 1982). However, the applications and introduction of SMPC are relativity novel to organizations and will not be immediately accepted. A technique such as SMPC will require participating parties to share a mutual interest and willingness to contribute continuously. It is uncertain if organizations will accept and adopt SMPC as mentioned before. Therefore, the study will also incorporate the concept and theory of collective action to understand the motives and the common goal for stakeholders in the anti-fraud industry to accept the technique and collaborate. A common goal, also known as a collective goal or interest, would create acceptance among the group. In this case, it will help to identify the factors and interests that influence an organization's decision to engage in collective action for developing MPC for fraud detection in the financial industry...
The thesis proposes an education system that have the potential to safeguard freedom of education. Freedom of education is found to be essential for human flourishing after discussing Aristotle's Eudaimonia and different definitions of freedom. The thesis proposes that the social spheres (cultural, economic, and political) need to have an ideal allocation of freedoms: negative freedom in the cultural sphere, positive freedom in the economic sphere, and Enlightenment freedom in the political sphere. This ideal allocation of freedoms is compared to the current allocation which is derived from a broad review of educational reforms in the United States of America and the Netherlands. Ultimately, the proposed system is based of a voucher system that ensure equal funds to students regardless of the curriculum they choose. Such a system also provides complete educational autonomy for the teachers to create their own curriculum, or choose which ones to participate, and define their own quality standards outside of political and economic influences.","Human Flourishing; Freedom of Education; Social Spheres; Capital; Educational Reform","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e2001484-29f3-4361-8d01-37a12e781fea","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e2001484-29f3-4361-8d01-37a12e781fea","Transitioning to sustainable aviation: A techno economic analysis of hydrogen fuel potential at Rotterdam The Hague Airport","Saad, Filip (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Bakkar, A. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:63c2da41-1dfb-445d-bd05-fd2f4f991a1b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:63c2da41-1dfb-445d-bd05-fd2f4f991a1b","A Sociotechnical Framework for Operationalizing Machine Learning in the Banking Sector","Singh, Yash (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Wagner, Ben (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Banks have started adopting machine learning to reinvent their business functions and improve their decision-making capabilities. However, operationalizing machine learning. i.e. converting machine learning experiments into sustainable production-grade applications, remains a key challenge, which limits banks from realizing the true business value of machine learning. Despite its significance, the scholarly literature on machine learning operationalization is scant and predominantly technical. The main objective of this research is to develop a socio-technical framework, that supports the understanding and implementation of the machine learning operationalization process in the banking sector. This research combines an extensive literature study and 15 expert interviews to identify nine socio-technical factors that influence the operationalization of machine learning applications. The identified factors are then validated and applied to a real-world context through a case study analysis. The findings suggest that risk management is one of the most crucial yet challenging aspects of the process. To investigate this further, the research analyzes the socio-technical challenges of risk management and proposes four strategic guidelines to address the same. This leads to the development of a conceptual model which illustrates how factors such as shared knowledge and controls reduce the challenges of risk management and thereby support the machine learning operationalization process.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:447487b2-e222-481f-9659-45f239c4415c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:447487b2-e222-481f-9659-45f239c4415c","Branding Makes You Stand Out: The impact of science/engineering graduates’ personal branding and perceived external marketability on perceived employability","Bai, Jingyuan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pachos-Fokialis, N. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Sand, M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","With the trend of work-from-home and flexible working arising from the Covid-19 virus pandemic becoming increasingly popular, personal branding will play a growing role in the workplace. Practitioners in a few industries, such as public relations, have been at the forefront of personal branding and will continue to attract people from other industries and even graduates to start focusing on building and managing their personal brands. In the near future, personal branding may become mandatory for graduate jobseekers and even further popularized in university and college vocational education.
Previous studies have shown that personal branding can help improve graduates’ employability, which is done through a three-stage approach: firstly, establishing their brand identities, then positioning their brands to the audiences, and finally checking how well it matches the company’s brand for which they are seeking employment. This study conducted empirical research on 80 science/engineering graduates no more than two years ago to determine the level of correlation between each of the three and their perceived employability through PLS-SEM analysis. On this basis, the study also explored whether and to what extent perceived external marketability plays a role in the impact of personal branding on perceived employability.
The PLS-SEM analysis results show that the conceptual model is a good fit. According to our research, the impact of graduates' core personal brand identity and personal brand positioning on perceived employability is not significant. This finding makes us think about whether the current personal branding guidelines, which generally focus on improving personal brand positioning, are really useful. The study also found that extended personal brand identity had a direct contribution to graduates' perceived employability. The most important finding is that the fit between personal brand and company brand makes the most difference for graduates' perceived employability, and perceived external marketability also plays a significant mediating role. This reveals that future graduates should look more into their brand fit with the preferred company when seeking employment.
This study provides valuable new insights into the impact of personal branding on the perceived employability of science/engineering graduates. Although the results are encouraging, future researchers can build on this study with longitudinal or cross-sectional follow-up studies.","Personal branding; Structural Equation Modelling(SEM); Perceived employability; Brand identity; Brand positioning; Fit with the company brand; Perceived external Marketability","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ed234e1b-12e5-45e5-824a-28d200ba7fc7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ed234e1b-12e5-45e5-824a-28d200ba7fc7","The Role Of Leadership In Open Innovation","El Khalki, Imad (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (graduation committee); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Open innovation ensures that there is a mutual flow of knowledge and skills between organizations. In this regard, the focus of open innovation is on forming mutually beneficial connections that can ensure competitive advantage. The market gets optimized processes and technologies, and the organization can achieve profitability. Although open innovation can have many benefits, it also brings challenges. The most important is the support within an organization to adopt open innovation. Employees are critical to open innovation. If organizations want to achieve successful open innovation, they must embed open innovation into the organization's mission and vision. This report maps the relationships between middle management leadership behaviors and employee open innovation behaviors. Leadership behaviors focus on developing the behaviors of employees and leaders themselves in relation to open innovation. Leadership encourages the development of employees' personal and professional skills. Leadership emphasizes decisions to build and maintain relationships and to promote open innovation behavior among employees, thus stimulating open innovation within the organization. Semi-structured interviews based on an exploratory qualitative method were used for this research. Interviews were conducted with 12 participants. Six leadership experts and six employees from different areas in the Netherlands were selected for this purpose. This research conducted a multilevel analysis and found that leadership behaviors drive important organizational changes related to open innovation and improve open innovation behaviors of employees. To implement open innovation within the organization, open innovation must be integrated into the mission and mandate of the organization. This creates effective collaboration between leaders and employees. Leadership can enable the use of leadership behaviors that can develop skills and competencies critical to open innovation. In addition, leadership behaviors have been found to influence employee behaviors related to open innovation when it comes to improving knowledge acquisition and sharing. In addition, employees are motivated to enter into external relationships with other organizations. Leadership behavior influences employee knowledge and skills. Leaders can influence the way employees acquire and share knowledge outside the organization and stimulate employees' open innovation behavior. Similarly, they can develop in the area of communication to foster useful long-term relationships. 9 In addition, more transparency, less time pressure, and the provision of support are important for gathering and sharing knowledge and building partnerships. This work has demonstrated effective leadership behaviors that can improve employee skills and competencies and specified the shift in organizational goals from open innovation to open employee innovation behaviors. Development within the organization can be accomplished by improving open communication and bonds between leaders-employees. In addition, there must be open communication between leaders and employees to motivate them to participate in open innovation activities. This research suggests that leadership behaviors can improve employees' open innovation behaviors by developing these behaviors in two phases of open innovation: obtaining ideas from external sources and idea integration. Open innovation involves individual employees and leaders, which can improve the output of open innovation in the organization.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5fafb525-2017-4521-8af6-29034327c4a8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5fafb525-2017-4521-8af6-29034327c4a8","Breaking the Curse of Dimensionality: Polynomial Chaos for Exploratory Modelling","Lyons, Jeff (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Kwakkel, J.H. (mentor); Nikolic, I. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","In light of worsening climate change and an increased interest in adapting infrastructure to cope with its effects, model-based decision support has become an essential tool for policy makers. In conditions of deep uncertainty, models may be used to explore a large space of possible system behaviours and so encourage a wider consideration of the possible futures. Such methods, where the focus is intentionally broad, fall under the remit of exploratory modelling and are a potential antidote to traditional predictive modelling methods where only a marginal treatment of uncertainty is attempted. One serious issue limiting the full exploitation of exploratory modelling is its computational intensity, the many computational experiments requiring large amounts on computing power which makes some analyses too expensive to attempt. In order to fully exploit the promise of exploratory modelling new methods of reducing computational intensity are needed. Polynomial chaos expansions (PCEs) are one class of methods which may fulfill this role. Our results conclusively demonstrate that PCEs are capable of accurately reproducing statistical moments and determining Sobol sensitivity indices significantly faster than direct-sampling methods, often requiring orders of magnitude fewer function evaluations. However, we found that the curse of dimensionality rendered conventional PCEs too costly for use with higher-dimensional models. We found that conventional sparse grids were effective at reducing the computational cost associated with fitting PCEs with high-dimensional models, as long as the model output was sufficiently smooth. For models where sparse grids were able to converge with reasonable accuracy, supplementing the PCCs with a modified Gersnter's dimension-adaptive algorithm further improved convergence times. The anisotropic refinement strategy employed by the algorithm allows for accurate determination of Sobol sensitivity indices with a minimum of computational effort.","Exploratory Modeling; Sensitivity Analysis; Modelling; Polynomial Chaos Expansion; curse of dimensionality; model order reduction; Surrogate modelling; uncertainty quantification; Sobol' Method; Sampling; Design of Experiment; Interpolation polynomials","en","master thesis","","","","","","https://github.com/JeffreyDillonLyons/curse_breaking Github repository.","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e2eaca73-fe7d-4634-a772-0f417c816c13","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e2eaca73-fe7d-4634-a772-0f417c816c13","Scenario-based Roadmapping of Blockchain in the Financial Payments Industry","Jagesar, Shivaye (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Ubacht, J. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Blockchain is famously known for its applications in the cryptocurrency space, with staggering market caps and volatile movements, widespread attention cannot be missed in society but also not in financial markets, especially the payments industry. Large-scale diffusion in the payments industry has not yet happened. This research project deals with the question “Which strategies are available to remain competitive in the blockchain-based future?”. A qualitative scenario-based roadmapping method is utilized as a foundation in this research project. The qualitative activities of this research method translate into workshop and interview activities to collect data. A workshop is used for scenario development and interviews for the roadmapping. Finally, a multi-scenario roadmap is developed, containing strategic pathways that can be used to leverage the competitive blockchain environment, resulting in available strategies to remain competitive in a blockchain-based future.","Blockchain; Scenario planning; Roadmapping; Payments; Financial Institution","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f6668428-cc4d-4295-9f49-9813710a43c6","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f6668428-cc4d-4295-9f49-9813710a43c6","Stagnating Business Investment in The Netherlands and Germany: Causes and Consequences","Patil, Tanvi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Economic growth, especially after the financial crisis of 2008, has been declining in many OECD nations. Declining economic growth has negative effects including a lower rate of productivity growth, stagnating standards of living, increases in income inequality etc. Many economists believe that stagnating fixed business investment is one of the key causes of the observed secular decline in economic growth. Hence, it is important to understand what drives business investment and how we can improve it, thereby, improving the economic growth. Thus, the objective of this thesis which is to understand the determinants of fixed investment that affects economic growth is important not only for policy-makers but also for corporations, shareholders, and workers.
In this thesis, we have analyzed the determinants of stagnating business investment in the European economies of the Netherlands and Germany using an accelerator-type model augmented with variables that measure financial constraints, business environment, labour market and network sectoral regulations. Our results show that fixed business investment as a share of GDP in the Netherlands is mainly affected by demand growth, financial constraints, uncertainty and energy prices. In case of Germany, fixed business investment is mainly affected by unemployment rate, term spreads, energy prices and regulations of the network sectors. We see that while demand is found to be statistically significant in explaining decline in business investment in the Netherlands, it is not found to be statistically significant in case of Germany. We found that business investment can be stimulated by increase in demand, real net profits of the firms, network sector regulations or by a decrease in uncertainty, energy prices, term spreads and unemployment rates considering both the Dutch and German economies. Increase in fixed component of intangible investment or decrease in level of financialization can also help in boosting business investment for these two economies.
Based on the empirical findings and literature, we looked into what lessons we can derive from a policy-making perspective. We believe that expansionary macroeconomic policies can most likely help both the Dutch and German economies to stimulate business investment. Finally, this thesis also addresses various reflections in terms of scope for further research. For instance, inclusion of firm-level variables in empirical analysis or using different measures for robustness checks are some of the aspects that can be reflected upon and used in future research.","Investment; Secular Stagnation; Business investment; Economics","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ac11b3d2-bb03-49cd-a951-25ad464f3b26","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ac11b3d2-bb03-49cd-a951-25ad464f3b26","Collaboration on Safety of Dutch Chemical clusters","Bom, Mitchel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Yang, M. (mentor); Gammon, A.R. (graduation committee); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","This project aims to answer the question of how cross-plant safety can be improved in a general way, including the prevention of domino effects. The main research question is: How do we improve collaboration between companies in a chemical cluster, in so that an overall safety gain is achieved? From the literature review and the interviews a list of the main drivers and impediments have been created.
There are 10 drivers that drive cross-company collaboration on safety: (1) Economic benefits, (2) Reduction of safety and security risk, (3) Support of decision-making on the prevention of domino effects, (4) Improvement of efficiency in safety training, (5) Improvement of efficiency
of safety management, (6) Improvement of safety inspection and maintenance of infrastructure, facilities and services that are related to domino effect prevention, and a few more that are removed due to confidential matters.
Additionally ten impediments have been found that hamper collaboration on cluster safety: (1) Communication and information sharing impediment, (2) Knowledge gaps, (3) Mistrust among companies, (4) Collaboration costs, (5) Difference in interest, (6) Insufficient policy and legislation support, (7) Cluster risk identification and recognition gaps, (8) Confidential issues and restrictions from mother company, and a few more that are removed due to confidential matters.
The conventional QRA framework is not build for cluster-wide safety and could be improved. The improved QRA includes a loop for additional analysis of installations that are affected by escalations of other installations. Further research could be done in analysing the link between types of collaborations (sharing information, learning from each other, sharing facilities & equipment, etc.) and the drivers and impediments.","Collaboration; Safety; Chemical; Cluster; Dutch; Risk; Cooperation","en","master thesis","","","","","","This thesis is a version where specific interview data is removed. For a full version you can contact the author.","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:fcb62e1a-b3a0-4169-a60e-ab64ecf7cf53","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:fcb62e1a-b3a0-4169-a60e-ab64ecf7cf53","Decarbonization and Destabilization: a Multi-Level Perspective on the Dutch steel-making industry","Bot, Martijn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Values Technology and Innovation)","Correljé, A. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Nowadays a growing concern among the scientific community, and the wider public are pushing politicians and countries to design policies for reversing the course of warming the plant. These efforts are backed up by, for example, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. As resources are limited, studies have
tried to identify sectors and practices which are the most polluting. These industries are typically named Energy-Intensive Industry, referring to the high energy and temperature needs of these industries. Numerous studies have looking into the ways to decarbonize these sectors, technologically, economically, but also to what extend these changes have effect on social and spatial aspects of society. Recently, social protest surged in the IJmond region after black snow was encountered next to the large steel-making industry, the backyard of close neighbourhoods. Questions surfaced regarding public health,
and local externalities of the industry. In this study, the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework is employed to identify what forces and dynamics are stabilizing and destabilizing the Dutch steel-making industry in the IJmond region. As the steel-making industry in the Netherlands accounts for thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities, and it adds to the strategic benefit of having one’s own steel-making plant, decarbonizing this industry is a complex issue. Asking for a need to balance economic growth, strategic benefits, and public health. But what exactly is the problem? The industry has been in the region for over a hundred years, why is social protest surging just recently?
For this study a non-structured approach is chosen regarding primary as well as secondary data gathering methods. The MLP framework is applied and complemented with the concepts of Social Acceptance (SA) by Wustenhagen et al. (2007), framing by Bruijn (2017), and the geography perspective proposed by Coenen et al. (2012). Secondary data was collected via back- and forward rolling on articles that happened to be interesting regarding the decarbonization of EIIs, social protest in the IJmond region, and the MLP. The levels of stakeholders (niche, regime, landscape) were identified and resulted in identifying actors to interview with regard to the IJmond region case (Tata Steel IJmuiden BV, Environmental Regulation Service (ERS) IJmond, NH Nieuws). These actors were then questioned about themes that were identified through secondary
data like scientific articles on social, technological and economic barriers and effects, and regional (Dutch) newspaper articles. It was found that both stabilizing and destabilizing factors were present. Stabilization was showed by the abundance of policy power struggles. Information and framing, organized
pressure, and direct lobbying strategies were applied by EII for favourable legislation with regard to their industry practices. Destabilization of the regime span across different concepts. The misalignment of rule sets by both mechanisms of evolutionary-economics (presented by the emerging green-steel niche market preferences and the growing support for supply-push policy measures) and social-institutional ones (normative rule sets were misaligned as residents lost their trust and faith in monitoring bodies) were identified. Cultural discourse was displayed by the presence of both actor credibility deterioration (The polluted snow and graphite rains in combination with their voiced compliance with permits and regulation) and the shift of experiential
commensurability of perceived story-lines between regime and niche actors (When reports on health problems distinguished graphite rains harmful for children, although previously these had been flagged as non-harmful ones, but neglecting the measures that were taken to prevent graphite rains in the future).
Furthermore, the transition phase and path were characterized according to Geels and Schot (2007) and Geels (2019). The niche-innovation of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) is considered to be substituting that of Blast Furnace Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF), and the landscape developments are considered to be applying pressure to the regime to change there industrial practices. Concluding that the nature of interaction between landscape development, niche-innovations and the regime level
are characterized as disruptive and competitive. The niche-technology itself is considered to be ready for progression into regime level, represented by the indicators of market-share, powerful actors joining the support network, and strong expectations that DRI and EAF are on a route towards enhancing their performance and price. The different landscape developments, phase and path are visualized in figure 8 on page 49 presenting an overview of the different forces adding to the socio-technical transition in the IJmond region. Additionally, it is shown that the regime actors, and thus incumbent firms, are able to produce radical innovation routes, also presented by Geels (2019). It must be noted that innovation or sustainability achievements are not merely attributable to the performance of one company alone. institutional comparative advantages and institutional thickness are presented by Coenen et al. (2012) to be of influence and should be considered as well when comparing contexts. The SA concept as proposed by W¨ustenhagen et al. (2007) teaches u that it has played a considerable role in the past and present decision-making process. But also is going to play an extensive role in future citing decisions, especially now that the ’green hydrogen’ route is chosen. This study concludes with a section on research experiences with regard to using the multi-level perspective and conducting unstructured interviews on a sensitive and controversial topic. In this section critique with regard to the perspective, and additional findings. MLP is considered to be good for exploring the boundaries on which a certain transition ’problem’ is extending to. At first the different social groups are seen as discriminating ones, in a sense that problems, values, groups from the real world can only fit in on or the other. But after gathering secondary and primary
data sets, it became apparent that some stakeholders, values, and discussions can fit in more than one social group. Making it difficult for consecutive studies to follow the same methodology and achieving the same results with the same data sets. Socio-Technical system (ST-system) change initiation has been attributed to the niche-level. But resulting from later studies and reviews, this characteristic is also attributed to the landscape-level. It is proposed that also the regime-level can initiate a transition process. Regime actors abandoning social rule sets and believes creating, internal tension between regime actors.
Further exploration on what the geography perspective proposed by Coenen et al. (2012) can enhance the comparison of different territorial transition processes, and how institutional comparative advantages or thickness are determining these differences. Although ¨Ohman et al. (2022) argue for a different conclusion on the technology readiness of steelmaking production processes, this is based on a different strategy of readiness determination. When ¨Ohman et al. (2022) way of reasoning with regard to the readiness of technology, the same conclusion is reasoned for.","multi-level perspective; decarbonization; social acceptance; framing; geography; Socio-technical system","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:604a69f3-f0d7-454e-9d56-3521378e6fc5","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:604a69f3-f0d7-454e-9d56-3521378e6fc5","Consensus in technology selection for small modular reactors","van Breugel, Luuk (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pesch, U. (mentor); de Vries, G. (graduation committee); Biely, K. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Small modular reactors are a new type of nuclear reactors with multiple advantages over conventional nuclear reactors. Due to their smaller size, they are safer than conventional nuclear reactors. They can be produced in factories, which solves the problem of nuclear energy projects going over budget due to delays at the installation site. With the increasing demand in energy, small modular reactors can play an important role in the energy transition. Multiple small modular reactors can be coupled together if the energy demand suddenly rises, which reduces the need for a completely new reactor site.
Currently, 72 different models of small modular reactors are being developed. However, this sector faces various challenges, such as safety and standardization challenges. Furthermore, some designs are based on conventional technologies, while others are based on new technologies. These different generations of reactors could pose to be threats to each other and delay the development of reactors. Small modular reactor designs require multiple units of the same design to be deployed in order to be profitable and offer economically competitive energy. Therefore, the sector is highly competitive as not all designs can become successful.
To deal with these challenges, a consensus on technology selection could be beneficial. The Delphi method is used to evaluate if a consensus can be reached. In the Delphi method, experts cooperate by responding to the opinions and views of other experts over multiple rounds of surveys. This creates a sense of understanding of other views which should lead to a consensus on questioned aspects.
Two rounds of the Delphi study have been held. In the first round, 19 participants have filled the survey, while the second round consisted of 14 participants. Participants were contacted via e-mail and LinkedIn. Participants work in the nuclear energy sector as either regulators, advisors, managers or engineers.
This study is based on an idea of the Organization for Economical Cooperation and Development (OECD), which states that the SMR sector could adopt a standardization model used in the aircraft sector. The aircraft sector can be used as an example for successful cooperation to deal with global licensing challenges and development of safety standards. The use of passive safety systems in SMRs could provide safe operating conditions at a fraction of the costs of active safety systems, and thus should be the aim when designing SMRs.
This study finds that cooperation within the SMR sector can lead to a consensus on standardization of parts and standardization of regulations, which reduces the financial risk for stakeholders and improves the chances for a viable global deployment of SMRs.","SMR; small modular reactors; Delphi; Delphi method; Nuclear","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","Energy transition lab thesis circle",""
"uuid:075e5fc2-6f21-4efa-98ef-f4495e28bbfa","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:075e5fc2-6f21-4efa-98ef-f4495e28bbfa","The impact of policy mix on the adoption of energy- efficient lighting: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis study of 28 Indian states","SINGH, NIKHIL (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hoppe, T. (mentor); Quist, J.N. (graduation committee); Goyal, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Climate change and ever-increasing energy consumption have become a pertinent topic of discussion around the world. There is an urgent need to lower the carbon footprint to meet the requirements of the Paris agreement. The government of India has introduced various policies such as Bachat Lamp Yojana and UJALA to push for energy-efficient technologies. The UJALA policy has been deemed quite successful in this regard meeting its target and resulting in a market creation of the LED technology. Being centrally implemented, the UJALA policy has been implemented with the limited role of state authorities. However, a difference in policy penetration at state levels is observed. Also, the concurrent nature of the energy sector in India deems it important to understand the energy-efficiency efforts of Indian states that contribute to better penetration of energy-efficiency policies like UJALA. This is done via an in-depth analysis of UJALA policy implementation with respect to its impact and the role of the stakeholders involved in the study. This study was utilized to determine the causal conditions that impact the penetration of UJALA policy at sub-national levels in India consisting of policy mix characteristics and exogenous factors. The dataset of these factors was analyzed using fsQCA methodology to derive the configurational combinations of the causal factors that result in higher uptake of LED bulbs in the states. A total of five solution pathways were derived from the research and were presented as results of this research.
into account local cost, usability and maintenance challenges, and ‘modular’
device designs can be one way of overcoming these challenges. However,
despite research into the design advantages of these devices, the adoption
challenges have not yet been investigated.
This research aims to make the adoption of modular laparoscopic instruments possible in LMICs, starting in India with four types of local hospitals. It aims to find the various actors and factors, including stakeholders that play a role in making this technology successfully adopted in India. The study involves desktop research to analyse LMIC markets with respect to surgical instruments, followed by qualitative research to identify barriers and facilitators to the adoption of these instruments in the Indian context. For this, we will conduct interviews and observations with experts and practitioners developing and using laparoscopic instruments in Indian hospitals. All findings will result in a case study that combines all findings and concludes with a framework that covers all aspects related to the successful adoption of modular steerable laparoscopic instruments with
interchangeable end-effectors","Adoption of Innovation; Low-resource healthcare context; Surgical instruments; LMICs; India; Healthcare; Strategies; Barriers and drivers; Frugal innovation; Stakeholders","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:406fc49d-76ba-471f-a4e9-325c18b3b398","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:406fc49d-76ba-471f-a4e9-325c18b3b398","How do we get the adoption of electric vehicles into a higher gear in Europe?","Muller, Steyn Jan Willem (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Blok, K. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The world is under the spell of the energy transition due to climate change. In 2015 197 parties agreed to the Paris-agreement, settings goals for limiting global warming. The transportation sector contributes for almost 25% of all global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). A promising pathway to decrease emissions from fossil fuels in the transportation sector is to replace conventional internal combustion engines (ICE) with Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV).
This thesis analyses how the introduction of BEVs in Europe can be accelerated. Five countries were selected and categorised, based on Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory.
Based on a literature analysis, the factors influencing the adoption of the BEV were identified and selected. From these factors, an analytical research model was created. This analytical research model was applied to each country in order to compare the countries and draw conclusions. The analytical model consisted of the factors: government regulations and incentives, purchase price, total cost of ownership, charging infrastructure, model availability, consumer characteristics and BEV adoption.
The study concluded that governments have two tools to stimulate the BEV adoption: make the BEV cost effective compared to the ICE and stimulate the charging infrastructure. If it is financially more attractive to drive a BEV in a country than an ICE, this will have a major impact on BEV adoption. Making the BEV financially attractive can be done with tax measures and subsidies. In general, countries with relatively high car taxes can make BEVs more financially attractive than countries with relatively low car taxes, which results in a higher BEV adoption
In addition, a country must ensure that the charging infrastructure grows along with the BEV adoption. In general, it is a pre-condition to develop its slow charger network to stimulate BEV adoption. However, it depends on the country how the slow charger network should be set up. An indicator for this is the percentage of detached houses. If this percentage is high, a country must focus on private charging when setting up its slow charging network. With a low percentage of detached houses, a country must focus on public charging when setting up the slow charging network. Furthermore, it is expected that private parties will jump into the fast charging market. These private parties will only step in if a country has a relatively high BEV adoption, such as Norway and the Netherlands, because it is only then profitable. The study also shows that in countries with a large surface area, it is a precondition to develop its fast charging network. Therefore, when a country has a low BEV adoption, but a large surface, incentives are needed from the government to stimulate a fast charging network.
A financial attractive BEV environment and a well-developed charging infrastructure has as consequence in increasing the number of BEV models. When more BEV models enter the market in a country, consumers have more choice, and this has a stimulating effect on BEV adoption in a country.","#electricvehicle; #adoption; #europe","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5cb18543-2071-4baa-a7c8-7a675114f996","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5cb18543-2071-4baa-a7c8-7a675114f996","A design-based study of data-driven asset management for Storm Surge Barriers: Implementing predictive maintenance, digital twins and realizing data governance for the current asset management at Rijkswaterstaat","Azad, Hamza (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Enserink, B. (graduation committee); Levin, Yigal (graduation committee); van Maarschalkerweerd, Rens (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Rijkswaterstaat’s Storm Surge Barriers are expensive assets providing economic value with the expectation of future returns. The maintenance is executed by the asset management department, which aims at maximizing operability without sacrificing safety and reliability. However, regular maintenance becomes more stringent as circumstances change, and a budget shortfall is expected in the same timeframe. These operational and economical interferences urge the asset management department to adapt using more data-driven approaches replacing (some) physical inspections and only conducting maintenance when needed. This so-called data-driven asset management has the potential to reduce costs and ensure reliability.
Despite the promise, there is no guidance for developing data-driven asset management. In this thesis, design principles are developed to assist in better decision-making using data-driven technologies, resulting in effective maintenance. These new design principles integrate three different areas into the current asset management: Digital Twins (DT), providing a virtual environment for safely testing in various scenarios, Predictive Maintenance (PdM) for confidently predicting a future asset failure and Data Governance (DG), ensuring the data quality for appropriate decision-making for the mentioned data-driven technologies. In other words, the goal of this research is to develop design principles that overcome real-world asset data-related problems during the implementation of DT, PdM and DG within the asset management context.
The qualitative design-based research methodology consists of the following steps: Identifying real-world problems, developing appropriate solutions, and then finalizing by prescribing actionable sentences, also known as design principles. This research design was demonstrated in a real-life case for the Storm Surge Barriers asset class at Rijkswaterstaat (RWS). Two data-collecting research methods were utilized. The first data collecting method was the literature study, which acquired information from 25+ scientific papers from three developing fields in the scientific literature: PdM, DT and DG. The second was a series of semi-structured interviews held with 33 RWS interviewees in different parts of the organization, collecting real-life asset data problems and the associated best practices. To guide the interviews across the data-driven developments and the current status of data governance within RWS, an interview protocol was constructed. The interviews results revealed contrasting views on (1) the SSB openness to new technology, (2) the alignment between asset management priorities and the data-driven technology, and (3) data access by third parties. These contrasting viewpoints unknowingly construct invisible (almost) impermeable walls between different layers in the RWS organization, which prevents knowledge spillovers, resulting in departments maturing at different rates and impeding the understanding and communication between them.
As part of the research design, four types of design principles were formulated. The first was the interview-derived design principles. The second type was the literature derived design principles acquired by the results from the literature study. After that, the interview and the literature-derived principles were combined into 'the refined design principles’. The last type is the data governance design principles, for which the problems were inspired by semi-structured interviews and are solely solved by the current data governance literature.
Thereafter, the refined and data governance design principles were tested within the context of the DT and the PdM by using data flow diagrams. The benefit of using the data flow diagrams is to test if the selected design principles improve the practices of asset management.
Consequently, 33 design principles were developed across the four types of design principles that prescribe guidance on how PdM, DT and DG contribute to developing data-driven asset management. From these, 4 were data governance design principles, and 12 were refined design principles. The refined design principles were not found in prior literature and could be further grouped into short-term and long-term relevance for asset management.
The novelty that these refined design principles bring is twofold, filling in two gaps in the literature. Firstly, It brings clear guidelines which were previously scattered and unclearly presented across the scientific literature. Secondly, these design principles are approached in a novel manner by combining the core insights from the literature and the inclusion of empirical best practices in a real-life case.
The results of implementing the relevant data governance and refined design principles into the AM are twofold. Firstly, the DeP’s enhanced the DT from primarily visualization into a more multifunctional usable digital asset for various asset management purposes. Secondly, implementing the same set of principles enhanced the PdM by including the most important factors to produce reliable automatic predictions to better manage the maintenance schedule.
The managerial recommendation is that the digital twins and predictive maintenance development need to develop hand in hand with data governance aspects and utilize a system to centralize the knowledge across all storm surge barriers, like periodic communities of practices. A lack of these two crucial developments will inhibit RWS long-term vision of transitioning from a pure civil organization to a hybrid organization: A synergy between civil engineering discipline and data-driven technologies.
A literature review identified that it remains unclear how firms entering the Dutch energy market as an aggregator can design their business strategy and business model and therefore a conceptual model based on 7 strategic components and 9 components of the Business Model Canvas has been established.
In order to explore potential business strategies and business models for firms entering the Dutch energy market as an aggregator, a qualitative study has been done by collecting primary data through interviews.
The interviews identified several findings that are used to complete the conceptual model. The study identified that aggregators can focus on both the B2B and B2C customer segments and that a number of key partners exist such as energy suppliers with an already large customer base, as well as seeking partners to fulfill the requirement of a Balance Responsible Party. It has been found that aggregators require a number of essential capabilities and resources such as IT knowledge and staff, and require algorithms for predictions of electricity price, demand & supply, and weather. Several revenue streams can be used by aggregators, however, the flexibility from customers’ assets can be currently sold with the highest profits in the imbalance market. Additionally, the study identified the fundamental strengths and weaknesses of aggregators, the elements required in an aggregator's value proposition, and other factors as part of the conceptual model.
Depending on the technical and regulatory specifications of other countries' energy systems, the findings of the study are to some extent generalizable and can be used by researchers to investigate opportunities for aggregators' market entry in these countries. Furthermore, the findings of this study can be used as a tool by actors in the Dutch energy market that consider providing aggregation services, to design their business strategy and business model and to create awareness of their opportunities in the market.
The study's proposed models might be provisionally acceptable as a business strategy and business model for firms involved in aggregation but should be validated further by research and implementation in practice. It is recommended that policymakers enable and stimulate aggregators in the Netherlands, for example by introducing subsidies, as the study found that achieving a profitable business case is a challenge for aggregators and considering the fact that aggregation does not only bring economic benefits but also ecological benefits that bring value to society as a whole.
In order to answer the research question, a literature review on analytical frameworks was made, from which a framework was developed using the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), Strategic Niche Management (SNM) and business models. The research question is then answered using this framework, desk research and semi-structured interviews. As part of the desk research, a list was made with over 100 firms in the Dutch manure processing industry, which formed the basis to select 8 interview participants from. Using data from these 8 participants, the MLP and SNM was analysed, from which patterns and links were identified. Commonalities between firms and many insights into the industry were found. Also, 5 main business models were identified over 2 general classifications: manure processors and equipment producers. Furthermore, barriers and opportunities of the niche were identified and an alternative framework and alternative business model canvas was presented for this specific niche.
The results were generally logical and clear, but it was not without its flaws. These mainly stem from this being the first paper to analyse business models for the manure processing niche, and due it being exploratory and broad in nature, meaning that sometimes the 'why' was not always fully justified. There were also relatively few interviews, further limiting how certain some of the findings are, but fortunately bias should not be significantly present. As one of the outcomes, there were quite a few recommendations for newly starting firms in the industry. The main ones being that newly starting firms should focus on a medium-large size installation capable of processing manure in a 15-20 km radius, offering a good quality product and/or service that works well, even if it may not be the newest, cheapest or most innovative method, and they should share their knowledge, collaborate and learn from each other. However, some potential areas for further research were also proposed, including investigating other types of firms in the industry, the lesser successful firms to see what not to do, markets outside the Netherlands, and also interviewing government personnel due to there being a fairly evident conflict between them and the agricultural industry. In any case, the manure processing niche looks like a promising solution to the nitrogen problem, but only time will tell where the industry will head in the future.","Manure; Processing; Niche; Business; Model; Recommendations; MLP; SNM","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e1d5d55c-8061-4114-9001-e42d433bcacd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e1d5d55c-8061-4114-9001-e42d433bcacd","Comparing real-world evidence usage in gene therapy health technology assessments: Implications for achieving alignment in future joint clinical assessments","Wassink, Mats (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Enserink, B. (graduation committee); Boru, A. (graduation committee); Hinrichs-Krapels, S. (mentor); Nijhuis, Tom (graduation committee); Constandse, Tom (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","b>Background & Objective: The unprecedented value and longterm uncertainties of gene therapies have challenged established health technology assessment (HTA) methods. Real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) may mitigate the encountered uncertainties. However, empirical evidence appears to be lacking in the literature. This research aimed to provide this evidence and identify implications for EU-wide gene therapy joint clinical assessments.
Methods: An initial literature review laid the theoretical foundation for the research. A retrospective comparative analysis delivered empirical evidence on RWD/RWE usage in gene therapy HTAs. Preliminary findings were probed in three use cases and verified in semistructured interviews.
Results: Nineteen HTA reports published by the HTA bodies GBA (Germany) and NICE (England) were identified for the ten inscope gene therapies.
Whereas NICE had an average inclusion of 14 sources per HTA report (with an acceptance rate of 56%), GBA had 8 (with 32% acceptance rate).
While RWD/RWE supporting evidence on an external comparator had the lowest acceptance rate, RWD/RWE on intervention effectiveness had the highest acceptance rate. Insufficient information to substantiate the choice of RWD/RWE and inappropriate RWE study design was the most common exclusion rationales for RWD/RWE.
Conclusions: The presented empirical evidence adds to the current knowledge base in two ways; it provides empirical evidence on HTAs of gene therapies (1) and RWD/RWE usage in gene therapy HTAs (2). This work provides insights into how RWD/RWE usage differs between HTA bodies and explicates relevant considerations for gene therapy manufacturers when using RWD/RWE in future HTA submissions. It also proposes that alignment on evidentiary requirements and assessment elements will optimise the transferability of future joint clinical assessment outcomes to national HTA bodies. Knowledge transfer and knowledge sharing initiatives will play a pivotal role in achieving such a consensus.","Health technology assessment; HTA; Real-world evidence; Gene therapy; Joint clinical assessment","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d85381a4-afe0-49c7-bc5a-cc8768f7390a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d85381a4-afe0-49c7-bc5a-cc8768f7390a","Entrepreneurship in Africa: Improving Lives through Clean Energy and Clean Cooking: Discovering the barriers and drivers for entrepreneurs in the SSA Clean energy sector","Faessen, Pieke (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Kamp, L.M. (mentor); Kroesen, J.O. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) energy poverty is a widely spread challenge and access to energy is a key imperative for economic development. With the exponential population growth in the region the pressure on the energy that is available grows and the numbers on energy poverty rise. In an effort to promote change, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, set by the United Nations (UN), encourages to make access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy possible for all. With the global agenda on sustainable energy access and the energy market gap in SSA, entrepreneurs are seeing opportunities. Both local and international entrepreneurs are finding their way in the SSA energy sector.
The 2021 status update from the UN on SDG 7 shows the progress regarding the development of energy access for all is not on track for many countries in SSA. With the time ticking on the SDGs timeline (goals should be achieved by 2030) more research should be done into investigating why entrepreneurs seem to be unable to reach substantial progress with regards to providing sustainable energy. This research aimed to discover the drivers and challenges local and international entrepreneurs are facing in their mission of brining sustainable energy to countries in SSA.","entrepreneurship; SSA; sub-Saharan Africa; SDG7; Sustainable development goals; clean energy; green energy; clean cooking","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e7e4650b-8085-4254-b946-823674077d62","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e7e4650b-8085-4254-b946-823674077d62","A Sustainable Energy Transition Case Study on Aruba","Croes, Gary (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Quist, J.E. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","This research identifies opportunities to accelerate the SET towards a 100% RE based on Aruba. This thesis is structured in three parts: 1) a literature review to assess the main relevant theories. 2) A conceptual framework combining the Strategic Niche Management and the Multi-level Perspective is developed to analyse and compare case studies of RE technologies (Solar PV Rooftops, Electric Vehicle and Wind Turbines), including the external factors enabling or constraining this SET. 3) Finally, a roadmap is provided to accelerate the SET on the island of Aruba. Data collection is through literature review, desk research and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the actors’ group (government, market and society).
The main research question: What is constraining the SET on the island of Aruba, and how can this be accelerated?
To accelerate the SET: at the regime level, the government should introduce an independent entity and an energy policy where the network-related is aligned to support the targets and expectations. At the niche level, utility managers should implement energy storage and intelligent infrastructure to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and enable demand-side management to create more room for RE penetration. At the landscape level, raising awareness, organise town hall meetings with pilot projects and demonstrations is necessary for society. Due to the limited space and land on the island, environmental impact assessments are required to mitigate the impact during the development process and avoid social resistance.
The education system should be upgraded to create new experiences, knowledge and information for local society. Hence, introducing a technical university is required but generally to change the teaching practice locally. The government’s responsibility is to stimulate more research, create more RE demonstrations, and create funds.
The research conducted by the universities, local and international, could ultimately improve regulatory measures. Utility and RE companies’ managers should consider that new business models will be necessary to survive in the new RE business environment. Other RET should also be explored, primarily because the current RET outcomes are unknown. The SET can be accelerated towards a 100% RE-based island by adopting these measures.
Anno 2021, seven of the ten largest companies worldwide belong to the digital sector compared to only one just twelve years ago.
Digital technologies enable organizations to provide significant additional value that is incredibly scalable to many users, to streamline operations, and to help decision-makers gain valuable insights.
However, creating new and innovative digital technologies is challenging because the competition is intense.
All digital systems within firms, including small experiments that might develop into successful digital innovations, are closely monitored by so-called enterprise architects.
Enterprise architects stipulate the direction of the entire IT landscape, which makes the IT landscape significantly more manageable but perhaps also influences the development of new digital innovations.
Surprisingly, the literature on the influence of enterprise architects on a firm's digital innovativeness is, to the best of the author's knowledge, literally non-existent.
Therefore, this research aims to provide insight into how enterprise architects influence their firm's ability to produce digital innovations.
This is accomplished by measuring for more than 50 firms their digital innovativeness, the extent to which certain Enterprise Architecture (EA)-related factors apply, and the correlation between these data points.
Additionally, the digital innovation readiness of each firm is measured by using several questionnaire items retrieved from prior research and is modeled as a moderating variable in the conceptual model.
The measure for digital innovativeness was found using a literature review and consists of 7 questionnaire items.
The EA-related factors that might influence a firm's digital innovativeness (EA factors) were obtained from three different sources: scientific articles that contain previously identified EA factors, a Best Worst Method prioritization of the factors included in the DyAMM Enterprise Architecture maturity framework, and insights from EA experts.
This approach resulted in the identification of 25 EA factors distributed among six categories: enterprise architecture design, alignment of the To-Be architecture with the business objectives, development of the proper architecture, usage of the architecture, implementation of the architecture, and enterprise architect behavior.
Ten statistically significant correlations were found.
Hiring highly skilled enterprise architects is the highest-correlating factor I found that increases a firm's digital innovativeness.
Other important influencing factors are whether the enterprise architects work in an agile manner, are aware of their role in the context of digital innovation, and actively identify external opportunities for innovation.
Lesser important influencing factors are whether enterprise architects are involved in the strategic discussions, the existence of an open feedback culture, and the presence of a solid EA foundation on top of which it is easy for employees to innovate.
EA experts indicated that all the statistically significant correlations found are probably causal.
Thus, whereas existing literature only hypothesizes that EA factors influence a firm's digital innovativeness, this study provides EA practitioners with the first empirically-grounded guidelines on how to do this.
These findings are important considering the fact that digital innovativeness is often considered a key capability for firms to be competitive in the current rapidly changing markets.
This study empirically shows that an excellent enterprise architect is not only able to design and ensure compliance to an enterprise architecture, but also to behave in a way that stimulates the emergence and development of valuable innovative ideas.
EA experts also indicated for many other EA factors that they would expect these factors to positively influence firms' digital innovativeness, but that more samples are needed to be sufficiently confident in these causal relationships.
Along with several other recommendations for future research, this thesis hopes to also provide a solid starting point for other researchers.","enterprise architecture; digital innovation; pls-sem","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:32c30c78-7f85-4606-9891-89ea012cb86a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:32c30c78-7f85-4606-9891-89ea012cb86a","Cost-effectivity of logistical strategies for the installation of offshore wind turbine substructures","Tjaberings, Jorick (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering)","Fazi, S. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Jarquin Laguna, A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The ever-increasing size of offshore wind turbine substructures and the development of wind farms at sites further offshore, with greater water depths and with extremer weather conditions, raise logistical challenges that have never been faced before. Additionally, the offshore wind industry has to deal with governments cutting subsidies, small profit margins and limited practice guidelines, while it is expected to lower the associated levelised cost of energy to a competitive level in the market. Scientific studies have identified room for optimisation in the substructure (the focus is laid on Monopiles (MPs) with Transition Pieces (TPs) and pre-piled jackets) transportation and installation phases. However, no studies that evaluate the performance of strategies for these phases are identified. Hence, the objective of this study is to “generate insights into the complex system of interdependent strategies for the installation of offshore wind turbine substructures, and to identify and quantify cost-reduction opportunities.” The considered strategies are formed by combinations of transportation and installation strategies, which differentiate based on the number and type of the deployed vessels and the sequence in which the operations are performed.
To quantitatively compare the strategies, and to consider stochastic processes (e.g., weather conditions), a discrete-event simulation modelling approach is adopted. To arrive at substantiated conclusions, a framework is followed, which provides a roadmap and rigour criteria for the design, implementation and evaluation phases. First, a conceptual model is developed and face validated. Next, a numerical “base model” is constructed, which describes the most basic strategy. This model is face validated by industry experts and evaluated by parameter variability, convergence and historical data validation tests. It is concluded that the base model is structured according to shared practical experiences, responds satisfactory to parameter changes, requires 35 simulation runs to converge, and has good predictive capabilities. Hence, it is deemed suitable to function as a “template” for the modelling of the other strategies.
The simulation results are evaluated for each of the considered substructures separately. (i) MP – TP installation. In general, assembly-line installation strategies, in which two Heavy Lift Vessels (HLVs) are deployed, are associated with the shortest installation time. The shuttling – assembly-line and the shuttling–alternating (in which MPs and TPs are installed alternatingly) strategies are associated with the lowest costs. Both involve a shuttling transportation strategy, in which the HLV(s) ensure(s) both the transportation and installation of the components. The mooring of barges alongside an HLV in feeder strategies (feeder vessels supply components to an HLV, which stays at the wind farm under development) and the installation of TPs by a relatively small HLV in assembly-line strategies are identified as the main bottlenecks. Reducing these by relatively simple solutions can result in significant performance increases. Lastly, the project start date is found to be a strong determinant of strategy performance. (ii) Jacket – foundation pile installation. The assembly-line strategies are found to result in the shortest jacket installation times as well. However, only the shuttling – assembly-line strategy is additionally associated with the lowest costs. Furthermore, it is found that a separate pile-dredging vessel can help to reduce the time and costs associated with separate phases installation strategies, in which jackets and their foundation piles are installed in different phases. Also for jackets, the barge mooring alongside the HLV is identified to be the largest bottleneck. Reducing this bottleneck can result in significant performance benefits. Lastly, a relationship is found between the performance of jacket installation strategies and the project start date, although weaker than for MP installation.
The developed decision support tool can provide a platform for further research into the logistics of offshore wind and other industries, whereas the obtained results are only valid within the set boundaries. To widen the applicability, it is recommended to perform follow-up studies in which a stochastic mechanical failure component is included, and the sensitivity to the wind farm size and port-to-farm distance is tested. Furthermore, it is advised to extend this study to investigate the potential of the industry adopting a more holistic process or market point of view.","Decision Support Tool; Discrete Event Simulation; Feeder Vessel; Heavy Lift Vessel; Logistics; Offshore Wind; Strategies; Substructures","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2023-02-14","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0bf679ef-8644-45f4-a2b0-751a3b516d09","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0bf679ef-8644-45f4-a2b0-751a3b516d09","Influences on Technology Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Analysis Between The Netherlands and Japan","Avé, Tondan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Giga, A. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","This thesis explored the contrast between the overarching category of entrepreneurship (from here on, “mainstream entrepreneurship” or ME) and the subset of technology entrepreneurship (TE) through a comparison of The Netherlands (low TE/high ME) and Japan (high TE/low ME), addressing the problem that currently no dedicated frameworks for TE exist. Five influencing variables were explored at the country level of analysis, namely economic development, technological development, institutions, education, and culture. In contrast to ME, TE benefits from better technological development and education. These influencing variables showed high values, whereas for ME they showed low values. With analysis of 44 additional countries, these results were confirmed, and economic development was also deemed important to TE. A culture high on long-term orientation and individualism (Hofstede dimensions) appeared to benefit TE. Institutions showed little difference between ME and TE. The additional analysis firmly showed that ME and TE are different and unrelated. which was confirmed by a low correlation coefficient and corresponding p-value.
This thesis shows that TE and ME are different, should be treated as such, and has identified several influencing variables that affect TE differently than ME. Thus, TE and ME can be independently stimulated by increasing the levels of the influencing variables. For governments seeking to increase their levels of TE through relevant policies, despite a traditionally non-entrepreneurial environment, it means that all is not lost, and that the levels of TE can be raised by focusing on increasing levels of education, economic environment, and technological environment. Managerial recommendations include the geographical placement of technology start-ups and the diversification of the team to improve success.","Entrepreneurship; Technology entrepreneurship; Mainstream entrepreneurship; The Netherlands; Japan; Comparative analysis","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a92b637d-97e4-407b-9f4a-bea13acc62a6","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a92b637d-97e4-407b-9f4a-bea13acc62a6","Factors for the success of upcoming more sustainable hydrogen production technologies for use in refineries in the Netherlands","Visserman, Douke (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (mentor); van den Dool, Jacques (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The incumbent dominant design for hydrogen production used in refineries in the Netherlands is producing grey hydrogen using steam methane reforming with CO2 as byproduct. Therefore, the current incumbent hydrogen production technology used in refineries in the Netherlands is unsustainable. However, it is still unclear which hydrogen production technology will become the new dominant design during the transition to a sustainable hydrogen feedstock for refineries in the Netherlands. The research objective of this study is to assess which factors influence the success of the competing hydrogen production technologies during the transition to more a sustainable hydrogen feedstock for refineries in the Netherlands and find out which technology is most likely to become the new dominant design. The hydrogen production technologies within the scope of the research are steam methane reforming (SMR) of natural gas (grey hydrogen), SMR with carbon capture and storage (CCS) (blue hydrogen) and electrolysis of water using renewable electricity (green hydrogen).","Hydrogen production; refinery; factors for success; dominant design; technology battles; technology selection; sustainable energy technologies; incumbent; energy transition; electrolyser; steam methane reforming; carbon capture and storage; green hydrogen; blue hydrogen; grey hydrogen","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:8d1e695c-c3ad-4e08-84dc-b460d2d1af64","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8d1e695c-c3ad-4e08-84dc-b460d2d1af64","Towards shared refrigeration in Dutch industrial parks","Littel, Willem-Jon (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Quist, J.N. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","Refrigeration is an important aspect of the industrial world. As worldwide demand for it is growing while environmental issues are being increasingly addressed by regulations, the call for more sustainable practices in the refrigeration fields becomes louder and louder. Currently, refrigeration systems are mostly fragmented, each business having its own set of equipment. This brings along several drawbacks, such as inadequate maintenance, absence of waste heat reusal, high investment costs, and a tendency of especially SMEs to prefer installations with synthetic refrigerants which are cheaper to acquire, but which are more harmful to the environment in case of leakage, and less efficient in operation.
A solution can be sought in “shared refrigeration systems”, a form of utility sharing and industrial symbiosis where a central refrigeration plant distributes cold refrigerant via a network of piping to individual companies. This concept has been poorly explored, and the current research aims to investigate the barriers and enablers that are in place for a potential implementation of this shared refrigeration technology among SMEs in Dutch industrial parks, as well as to investigate how the barriers can be overcome. The research is guided by the research question: “How can the implementation of shared refrigeration among SMEs in Dutch industrial parks be facilitated?”. Data was collected by means of explorative semi-structured interviews (N=13). A preparatory round of interviews (N=3) was added to create a consolidation of the shared refrigeration concept as a reference to ensure the quality of the main interview round.
The results show that there is a range of barriers in place for an implementation of shared refrigeration in Dutch industrial parks: (i) a funding gap in the initiation phase, (ii) the long investment horizon, (iii) uncertainty due to a lack of financial and sustainable assessments, (iv) lack of prior experiences, (v) incapability of local business associations, (vi) inadequate information sharing, (vii) a lack of public awareness, (viii) a fear of being dependent, (ix) a fear of competitive threats, (x) scarcity of implementation opportunities, (xi) strict policies for complementary systems, and (xii) businesses having a short-term focus. Enablers that were identified are: (i) the currently favorable policy climate, (ii) congestion problems in the electricity network, (iii) the currently favorable investment climate, and (iv) active knowledge sharing by governments and consultancy firms.
The research has led to the conclusion that the implementation of shared refrigeration among SMEs in Dutch industrial parks can be facilitated by combined efforts of governments, businesses and academia. Facilitation strategies include conducting scans for opportunity identification, conducting business case analysis to come to financial and sustainable ramifications, closing the funding gap in the initiation phase, disseminating experiences from similar projects, and setting up and/or strengthening the capabilities of local business associations through knowledge sharing and creating partnerships with governments, consultancy companies and research and education institutions. A short overview of the most relevant barriers and strategies to overcome them can be found in Table 6.6.","Shared Refrigeration; Utility Sharing; Industrial Symbiosis; SME; Sustainability","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6dd0039a-8128-4b57-ab32-64e239102829","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6dd0039a-8128-4b57-ab32-64e239102829","Influence of trial experience with V2G on consumer acceptance of EV drivers in the Netherlands","Nijssen, Koen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); Lukszo, Z. (graduation committee); Ghotge, R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","In the Netherlands, a big move towards electrification has been underway for decades, while the share of renewable energy in the Dutch energy mix is increasing. Grid capacity issues and the intermittency inherent to renewables require intelligent solutions, one of which may be V2G. V2G allows for bi-directional flows of energy between an EV and a DC charging station. Focussing on consumer acceptance of V2G is vital to the technology's adoption. Previous research is scarce in this regard, especially considering the influence of trial experience on consumer acceptance. In this research, using qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews, this influence is described for EV drivers in the Netherlands. It is found that trial experience using V2G alleviates earlier worries regarding range anxiety and (desired) user-friendliness. Trial experience also revealed that EV drivers find controlling the state-of-charge a vital barrier for adoption, as this would take away most of their uncertainties. This research, being one of the only studies assessing trial experience of V2G at short term parking qualitatively, can function as a building block for other research, such as similar experiments in different geographical locations or with different case settings.","Vehicle-to-grid; V2G; Trial experience; Consumer acceptance; Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology; Dutch EV drivers","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:77d602aa-b102-4fb2-8771-df8fe5d34ab4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:77d602aa-b102-4fb2-8771-df8fe5d34ab4","Technological Framework to assess the implementation of Power to Hydrogen","Purohit, Aditya (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Yang, M. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2022","The current EU member states have set targets to reduce annual greenhouse emissions for 2021-2030. Sixty per cent of EU emissions include sectors like buildings, agriculture, non-ETS industry and waste. Much research cannot be found to reduce emissions in the buildings, houses and community-based scenarios. Therefore, this research focuses on developing an innovative model to make the community a hundred percent reliant on renewable energy sources. Renewable energy produces power variably depending upon external conditions. At times, the variability of renewable energy cannot be fed into the power grid due to network constraints or low demand leading to curtailment of the energy or selling the energy at zero marginal price. Therefore, the curtailment of energy and its intermittency is the biggest barrier in delaying the transition towards a hundred per cent of renewable power into the power systems. Robust energy storage technology is required to integrate with an intelligent control system to increase the penetration of renewable energy into the energy mix. To meet this requirement, “Green Hydrogen” produced can contribute to energy security by providing another energy carrier with different supply chains, producers, and markets, diversifying the energy mix, and improving the system’s resilience. To produce hydrogen, power to hydrogen technology is an innovative solution, and a framework needs to be developed to integrate this technology in the community using Industry 4.0.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has proven to be a useful tool to increase the efficiency of waste collection and while many waste management organizations are beginning to adopt these solutions, many are struggling to fully adopt and implement the technology. It is still unclear, due to lack of research, what factors are hindering the adoption and implementation of IoT technology in these organizations and how the process can be improved. The research scope of this study was three-sided: Industry specific, organizational, and technological. The focus was set on the waste management industry, and the intra-organizational barriers that hindered the adoption and implementation process of IoT-powered fullness sensors. The core problems at hand were identifying what the intra-organizational IoT adoption barriers are, what are the most influential barriers, what mitigation strategies can be employed to mitigate these barriers and how it can all be illustrated within an IoT adoption and implementation process framework.
The main research question formulated to answer these problems is: How can the adoption and implementation process of IoT-powered fullness sensors in waste management be improved? Four sub-research questions were formulated that held partial information which were needed to answer the main question.
The overarching structure of this research project follows the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). DSRM provides a commonly accepted approach which involves a rigorous six step activity process for creating and evaluating an IT artifact intended to solve organizational problems. This methodology was altered to fit this particular study, and thus followed five of the six steps. An analysis of literature was performed to identify the general intra-organizational innovation adoption barriers. An exploratory case study was conducted within a large waste management company in Iceland which recently decided to install IoT-powered container fullness sensors to increase the efficiency of their processes. The case study revealed, through interviews, which of the identified barriers had the most significant effect on their adoption and implementation process. Expert interviews and desk research were used to formulate strategies that organizations could employ to mitigate the most prominent barriers identified. After all the interviews had been transcribed, coded, and categorized, data triangulation was used where data from multiple different interviewees was compared and analyzed. From the results of these research efforts, a framework explaining the IoT adoption and implementation process for waste management was then designed and developed. Expert interviews were again conducted to evaluate the framework and confirm the framework’s theoretical validity, application and expected performance in terms of its set goals and objectives.
The results of this research are the identified general intra-organizational innovation adoption factors, the most influential factors affecting IoT adoption and implementation within waste management along with their proposed mitigation strategies as well as a designed IoT adoption and implementation process framework in which these strategies are incorporated. The general intra-organizational innovation adoption factors identified are: Leaders’ attitude towards change, Centralization, Complexity, Formalization, Interconnectedness, Organizational slack, Size, Culture, Degree of risk-taking, End user behavior, Strategic objectives and Uncertainty of business benefits. The following are the three most influential barriers to IoT adoption and implementation within waste management and their proposed mitigation strategies: The first barrier is Uncertainty of business benefits and its proposed mitigation strategies are: Gaining a Proof of Value (PoV) and Incremental scale-up. The second barrier is Strategic objectives and its proposed mitigation strategies is: Using information to gain a competitive advantage. The proposed mitigation strategy for the third barrier, Degree of risk-taking, is Renting with an option to buy.
The applicability of the designed framework in a real-life setting is yet to be tested. Future research could involve using the framework and applying it in an actual implementation of IoT fullness sensors in a waste management organization.
positively. Plastic is literally everywhere and our modern way of life would not even be possible without it. However, when not managed and treated correctly plastic can affect modern day life significantly posing environmental risks and possible human health issues. Awareness and the demand for solutions is growing but trailed by solid regulations and legislation. Moreover, standardization and general tools for organisational deployment are scarce. This disproportion offers few motivating handles to organisations that might want to contribute solving plastic pollution issues. This study finds its origin in that disproportion and aims to create a framework that assist organisations willing to contribute.
The majority of plastic pollution found in oceans is originally from land. The predominant manners of transport used by pollution are: rivers. Plastic pollution and riverine plastic emission are most dominant in developing countries, particularly in Asia. Opposed to this, the awareness in these countries is generally low compared to that in developed nations. Despite the fact that the plastic pollution is particularly serious in developing countries in Asia, most of the organisations willing to contribute to solving the problem are located elsewhere. This study focuses on Indonesian riverine plastic pollution prevention, with the main research question formulated as follows: What makes a go-to-market strategy viable for deployment of novel river plastic recovery systems in Indonesia?
This thesis gathered data from an extensive literature review, a case study and multiple interviews. The literature review is categorised in riverine plastics, riverine
plastic recovery technology, market theory and sustainable business model innovation and implementation. Within the literature data is sought on technological
aspects that define a riverine recovery system are categorised, benefits and cost of launched systems, general market patterns and sustainable innovation factors. A
case study has been set up to monitor assumptions following the literature review. Within this case study, a specific organisation actively recovering plastic from Indonesia
rivers is analysed in detail. This is done by using the Triple Layered Business Model Canvass.
Parallel to the case study, insights initiate the makings of a framework. The first versions of the framework posted several implications, which have been discussed
with several experts. These interviews provide in-depth insights in the Indonesian business world as a whole and as associated with sustainability. The expert’s view on
riverine recovery have been discussed as well as the validity of the created framework. The interviews lead to extension of the framework as well.
The answer to what viability is in riverine plastic recovery in Indonesia rises from the combination of the case study and the interviews. The first method is an economic
approach where an organisation aims to maximise income, resulting in target customer creativity and often western involvement. The second method is a communal
approach combining environmental with social value. Local involvement is maximised, resulting in a minimisation of cost, both offering views from a different
angle. Ideally, a combination of the two approaches is applied, but practically this is not yet viable. These results are analysed and quantitatively formulated in the
framework.
The results of this report include both theoretical and practical contributions to the search of solving plastic pollution. Theoretically, the framework closes the gap
between available technical literature and the lack of organisational guidance. The practical contribution resides within the easy-to-use design of the framework. It is
designed as a quantitative checklist which managers and organisational leaders can use to assess a project for riverine plastic recovery.
In conclusion, riverine plastic pollution poses a serious risk to the environment and to human health. Finding ways to successfully battle this issue proves to be a
complex endeavour because of the significant differences in respect of economical and social development stages globally. This prevents organisations, who are in
principle willing to contribute, from actually doing so. There are no handles to the decision process, there is no guide. Chapter 6 will provide a framework aiming to
provide for this guidance.Finally, Chapter 7 and 8 summarize on the findings.
Keywords: Riverine plastic; macro-plastics, plastic pollution prevention, triple layered
business model, The Ocean Cleanup, Indonesia
Previous studies have shown that the success of open banking depends on: the safe transfer of the financial data and on the control consumers have over their data. Moreover, literature around the disclosing of financial data has demonstrated that consumers are unwilling to share their data, with privacy concerns being the dominant factor. Further, the new data economy brings a lot of around who actually owns the data and what data ownership leads to.
To explore the adoption of open banking among consumers, this study combined the technology acceptance model with external factors related to consumer personality attributes. Through intensive literature review, three dimensions are identified as crucial: psychological ownership, user’s privacy concerns, and technology readiness. A conceptual framework was developed along with nine hypotheses. The data was collected via an online survey. The reliability and validity of all the constructs were assessed. The hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling using the SmartPLS software.
The results of the analysis indicated that the conceptual model was a good fit. The analysis indicated that there is a strong and significant effect on the intention to use open banking products and services. Specifically, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were important predictors for intention to use. Although psychological ownership had a negative effect on the intention to use, it showed a significant total effect through the mediating effects of perceived usefulness and ease of use. While the results of privacy concerns were insignificant, the technology readiness construct registered a total positive effect through the mediating role of the technology acceptance model on the intention to use. These findings allow the understanding of what affects the consumer’s intention to use open banking products.
The study supports the literature by being the first study to include the construct of psychological ownership to the technology acceptance model. Although the results are quite encouraging, the generalization should not be based on one single study. Future studies could use these findings to explore more the effect of psychological ownership on the disclosing of personal and financial data. Furthermore, by being a pioneer in the topic of open banking, the study provides banks and financial organizations with new insights on the consumers’ adoption of open banking products and services.","Open Banking; Psychological Ownership; TAM; Consumer Adoption; Financial Data","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a3a65c13-8a3a-4eff-8059-a2addefd72e8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a3a65c13-8a3a-4eff-8059-a2addefd72e8","Risk assessment of Blockchain in Finance","Gopalani, Harsh (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The risks found during the interviews with experts validated the literature findings. Some of the risks found in literature, namely industry hostility, and contractual risk were mentioned in the literature but not by the experts. This revealed their lack of practical relevance. Reversibility was a risk that was mentioned in the literature but it was mentioned by an expert as an advantage due to the security added by it. Additionally, infrastructure risk was mentioned by the experts but not present in the literature. The importance of risks mentioned by the experts was given by the impact and their likelihood of occurrence. The risks were divided by risk level into the categories very high, high, medium, and low. Security risk was identified in the very high category. Fraudulent activities, regulation and law, reputation risk, and business model challenges were given a high-risk level. The medium risk level contained operational risk, scalability, and infrastructure risk. The low-risk level contained collaborative governance, crypto currency risks, interoperability, organizational readiness, security and privacy of data, private key/ wallet risks, and smart contract risks...","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:16204a11-2d33-4b3c-a993-10a57b5d4297","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:16204a11-2d33-4b3c-a993-10a57b5d4297","Analysing the implementation of the combination of ESG data, Big Data and AI within a financial institution, an explorative case study","Breeman, Max (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rezaei, J. (graduation committee); Mouter, N. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Over the last few years, regulations, changes in governance, and societal pressure have led to a push to rethink a firms’ approach to sustainability. This push created a need to place sustainability and numerous relevant technologies and approaches at the centre of the firms’ decision-making process. Within the financial industry, the combination of novel data technologies such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the inclusion of sustainability, or so-called “ESG”, Environment, Social, and governance data spearpoint this new ‘sustainable’ frontier.
Literature shows that the implementation of the combination of ESG data, Big Data and AI, within a financial institution and as a corporate resource is a rather novel subject, with no directly related literature available. Thus, this thesis aims to address the topic of implementing ESG data, Big Data and AI within a financial institution. The main research question answered within this thesis is set out to explore this combination of sustainability data, also known as ESG data, Big Data and AI. This study aims to provide a starting point to fill this knowledge gap by creating novel theoretical propositions to be tested in future research. The following research question has been devised to address this research problem.
What observations can be extracted from assessing the introduction of a Big Data and AI toolset applying ESG data within a procedure?
The main research question is answered through the use of theoretical propositions. These novel theoretical propositions illustrate key observations made during the case study. For each proposition, future research directions are given. These propositions, thus, the answer to the main research question are:
- The perception within a firm of using Big Data and AI within a process could affect the learning rate and the learning approach taken by the user. This affects the acceptance of the technology. Thus, the perception could affect the adoption rate of Big Data and AI within a firm.
- If Big Data and AI are used within a process, people tend to be convinced by Big Data and AI used within the process, thus Big Data and AI can be used to convince people of the validity of the results of the process.
- If conferred management information is substantiated by an information process using Big Data and AI, then people do not have the tendency to acknowledge the inherent biases in such processes.
- If Big Data and AI are used within a process, data quality and source are perceived as of less importance.
- There could be causation between one's knowledge of Big Data and AI, and the perception of bias when assessing a process that uses Big Data and AI.
- ESG data is context-dependent, illustrating that a structured or unstructured approach to ESG data depends on the application of ESG data.
To find the solution to the link, semi-structured case interviews was conducted. 6 team managers from product-based firms and 4 managers from service-based firms participated in the research. Data from these 10 semi-structured case interviews was analyzed using AtlasTi software and results of qualitative research is presented in the thesis. Various ways in which one can conceptualize diversity, advantages & disadvantages of diversity and its effect on team performance & ambidexterity is presented in this thesis based on the qualitative analysis of semi-structured case interviews.
The exploratory study indicates that semi-conductor team mangers conceptualize diversity from both social and information/decision making perspectives. Common surface level diversities such as function, experience, gender etc. were reported. At the same surface level diversities such as working style, task motivation, etc. were reported. The results indicate that teams various diversity factors can lead to divergent thinking and elaboration of task-relevant information thus improving team performance. Some of the reported benefits of diversity include increased knowledge base, better service to customers, better decision making, etc. Realization of diversity benefits is not straightforward; it comes with challenges. Some of these challenges due to diversity include complex team management, increased conflicts, increased time and effort. Thus, it is important for organizations to provide necessary support and environment for reaping the benefits from diversity. Such organizational control is more in terms of structures of teams in case of product-based firms; structural decisions drive ambidexterity and division could take place based on diversity types such as functional diversity, experience diversity etc. However, decentralized structures and informalization of non-routine activities in firms can enable better exploration. And diversity types such as experience, function or skills act as deciding factors in determining extent of structural decentralization and informalization of non-routine activities. Decentralization of non-routine activities can thus enable ambidexterity. Contrary to product-based firm, all the service-based firms reported that employees need to have skills and abilities to capture customer needs and deliver them on time. Therefore, it is evident that all the employees in service-based firms could be involved in exploration. Thus, naturally the employees in service organizations are involved in both the types of activities. Diversities such as skill and working style can thus enable contextual ambidexterity in service-based firms by enabling employees to serve customers better.","Team Diversity; Team Ambidexterity; Team Performance; Exploration; Exploitation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:99a0935f-06ce-4528-a774-0db2a14045d2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:99a0935f-06ce-4528-a774-0db2a14045d2","Microfoundations of the Digital Transforming Dynamic Capability: An exploratory multiple case study in the fashion and retail industry to investigate the underlying mechanisms of digital transformation through dynamic capabilities perspective","Blasco, Karl (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Werker, C. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Dynamic capabilities theory is an explanatory framework that has gained academic and management attention for its ambition to explain sources of competitive advantage and profits in highly competitive environments. For this reason, I conducted an extensive literature review exploring where the dynamic capabilities theory and digital transformation phenomenon intersect. The review resulted in the notion that digital transformation is a source of constant change that necessitates dynamic capabilities. However, the dynamic capabilities of the firm are not well understood. A stream of research has been flourishing to illuminate the origins of dynamic capabilities, known as the microfoundations of capabilities.
Reviewing research in dynamic capabilities revealed a framework that allows firms to respond to digital disruption through constant evolution in capabilities. My desk research uncovered the management research community’s ongoing investigation of dynamic capabilities’ underlying mechanisms known as microfoundations of dynamic capabilities. Examining these capability sub-dimensions showed that aggregated actions of individuals form routines that evolve into the firm’s capabilities. Developing capabilities of any kind starts from the learning and collaboration of individuals with different skill sets, beliefs, and values that make up the organization.
I approached three legacy firms in the low-tech sector of fashion and retail as a case study that exemplifies the problem of digital transformation. They were chosen based on profiles typical of a digitally-transforming firm, such as investments in digital technologies, the appointment of chief digital/information officers, size, and age. In addition to content, the firm’s headquarter operations reside in the Netherlands, and their digital transformation initiatives occurred in the last five years. I consulted annual reports, financial filings, and company press releases to trace their digital transformation journey and validated through individual interviews from digital actors, people involved in the company’s digitalization.
The empirical observations confirmed that the microfoundations perspective fits the research question due to the digital transformation’s multi-pronged approach. However, I did not observe all sub-dimensions of the dynamic capability in the case study companies. Nevertheless, I found at least one of each factor relating to individuals, processes, and structures. For example, the individual dimension emerged in the study due to the central roles of leadership and the workforce’s digital savviness in the transformation process. Furthermore, digital intensity (processual dimension) is a must in digital transformation since substantial digital technology investments are a core requirement. Their interaction and collaboration across different levels of the organization through proximity help build capabilities for digital transformation. The structural dimension also shows that a centrally organized digital initiative can move slower than a decentralized one.
The framework suggests that dynamic building capabilities are rooted in individuals learning and collaborating. Additionally, proximity and the concepts of multi-dimensional relationships (geography, cognition, social, and organizational) facilitate the learning process. My study also suggests that individuals working at different levels of the organizations build firm-level capabilities, hinting at the multi-level characteristics of capabilities of the firm. The research in microfoundations of capabilities has only recently caught traction. Thus, the elements of my thesis form a foundation for future research.
While existing literature recognizes that viewers form parasocial relationships with YouTube content creators, there is not enough emphasis on understanding the content creators’ perspectives.
This thesis helps to understand how content creators experience being the target of parasocial relationships. Furthermore, the general feelings and emotions of content creators are probed in order to extract the values of content creators, such that content creators’ unique experiences can be analyzed and educated recommendations can be given to relevant stakeholders.
Eight interviews were held with content creators who are the face of their channel. Three main research questions were formulated: (RQ2) How and to what extent do content creators experience parasocial phenomena on the YouTube platform? (RQ3) What moral challenges do content creators experience when connecting with their audience or expressing themselves in their content? (RQ4) How does the YouTube platform influence the ways in which content creators are able to communicate their values to their audience?
To ensure these research questions were answered, a set of propositional statements were formulated from the existing literature. Each proposition consists of one specific element which may be supported by interview findings. When compounded, these propositions answer their relevant research question.
For RQ2, propositions include Interviewee holds influence over their audience, has met a viewer in person, has audience members similar to themselves, and does not have the same amount of knowledge about the viewer as the viewer has about them. For RQ3, propositions include Interviewee interprets their audience as a group rather than as individuals, communicates with their audience members outside of their video content, feels they need to be professional in their YouTube content, creates videos as a creative outlet, creates videos because it is fun for them, and feels connected to their audience. For RQ4, propositions include Interviewee is aware of the YouTube algorithm affecting the platform, receives financial benefits or a stream of income from YouTube, feels authentic on YouTube, is exposed to tools to grow their YouTube audience, and has confronted their values when making decisions on YouTube.
Interviewees’ anecdotal evidence directly support findings that YouTube content creators value at least one or more of the following: self-expression, creativity, loyalty, community, credibility, authenticity, entertainingness, education, fiscal opportunity, social justice, content quality, pride in self or work, appreciation for viewers, and filling a niche.
YouTube is a socio-technical system with an immeasurable number of users every single day. YouTube should be honest with their content creators and viewers, as the YouTube platform would not exist in its current state without them.
Calls for future research and explicit recommendations are given to relevant stakeholders about how to handle parasocial phenomena.","parasocial relationship; parasocial interaction; parasocial phenomena; YouTube; influencers; influencer marketing; online content creators; Values; Emotions; value sensitive design; moral responsibility; Socio-technical system; YouTube algorithm; recommender system","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:11f4beba-d58e-423d-98f0-8166240672e7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:11f4beba-d58e-423d-98f0-8166240672e7","Enabling a decentralized architecture for data marketplaces","Gavriluţa, Eugen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Wagner, Ben (graduation committee); Ofe, H.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Data Marketplaces are emerging digital platforms in data management. These platforms enable the infrastructure for data exchange, offering the opportunity for data providers to commercialize their datasets and save time for data consumers in identifying appropriate datasets. Conceptually, data marketplaces provide data exchange services as their core activity for the business community. However, in practice, organizations may be reluctant to exchange data through intermediaries as marketplaces instead of exchanging data bilaterally. The bilateral exchange of data gives more control to providers and consumers over the exchange process. For this purpose, a decentralized architecture could represent the peer-to-peer technical solution for the bilateral exchange. Therefore, what was previously called intermediaries, in the decentralized environment, data marketplaces are communication structures facilitating the commercial exchange of data between organizations. In this thesis, a specific focus on a decentralized architecture, namely blockchain technology, is considered for data marketplaces. The research follows the firm belief that both the technical and business specifications are essential in understanding the data marketplaces with blockchain architecture. Therefore, the decentralized architecture and the business models for data marketplaces, are researched with the overarching objective to investigate the impact of a decentralized architecture on the business models of data marketplaces. This research contributes to the literature by improving the general understanding of decentralized data marketplaces and by providing technical and business frameworks that can be utilized to investigate the application of blockchain technology in data trading platforms as well as analyze their business model characteristics.","Data Marketplaces; Data trading; Decentralized architecture; Blockchain; Market Design; Business Model; Taxonomy; Dimensions","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7cae77fd-e5b9-4fec-80aa-a3acdcc834ab","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7cae77fd-e5b9-4fec-80aa-a3acdcc834ab","Green hydrogen potential for the Dutch built environment","SINHA, PRAKHARDEEP (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Yang, M. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (graduation committee); van Wee, G.P. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The term “Green Hydrogen Economy” has been prevalent in the global economies in recent years. Interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier has increased due to the global increase in air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and increased energy demand. The Netherlands aspires to be a European leader in hydrogen deployment, as hydrogen is widely seen as critical to achieving the 2050 climate targets. Residential heating accounts for roughly 12% of total energy consumption in the Netherlands, with natural gas combustion accounting for 71% of this proportion. However, growing controversy about natural gas usage makes this resource less favourable due to the earthquakes caused by natural gas extraction in the Dutch gas fields. Additionally, the Netherlands has a robust gas infrastructure capable of transporting green hydrogen. Thus, green hydrogen might prove helpful in ensuring both flexibility and continuity in domestic energy demand.
The goal of this study was to explore possibilities and problems associated with the transition of the Dutch built environment to green hydrogen-powered dwellings. The shift from a natural gas-powered environment to a green hydrogen-powered environment is envisioned as a transition. This transition could be possible when there is alignment between the different levels of the society (niche, regime and landscape). The barriers and enablers with regard to the transition to a green hydrogen-powered environment have been discussed and the suggestions to overcome these have also been found. The Multi-Level Perspective was used to map the barriers and the suggestions on the three levels (niche, regime and landscape). This resulted in an approximate set of actions along with the required timeline and the actors who could work to overcome the barriers. The mapping of barriers and enablers according to the Multi Level Perspective shows a big divide between enablers and barriers. This divide has to be filled in for a smooth transition to green hydrogen. The uncertainties surrounding the energy transition in the built environment contributes to its complexity. Stakeholders are hesitant to support hydrogen energy applications in the built environment due to a lack of laws governing hydrogen usage in the built environment and significant gaps in the legislation impeding the transportation and manufacture of sufficient quantities of green hydrogen.","Green hydrogen; Dutch Dwelling; built environment; Multi-Level Perspective; Barriers and Opportunities","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1a48fca1-ee6d-4e99-bd55-a87f071d5d5a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1a48fca1-ee6d-4e99-bd55-a87f071d5d5a","Crowd versus Experts Forecasting Technologies: Impact of Collective Diversity & Size on Collective Performance","Djordjevski, Igor (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Rezaei, J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","For centuries, Homo sapiens have been trying to predict the future through supernatural or scientific methods. Since prehistory, this quality has been essential to humans (e.g., anticipate prey, then ambush it). Even in today’s society, predicting the future remains essential in many industries and research domains. Although, we are still far from producing flawless forecasts (e.g., weather) because future events are uncertain. When decisions contain uncertainty, governments, organizations, and individuals alike tend to be interested in the advice of others.
One such case that was interesting is when predicting the outcome of a standard battle. Within such a battle, high-tech firms compete to obtain most customers in a given market through their technological inventions. To predict which technology will be the standard on the market, experts are independently interviewed to determine the importance of factors (e.g., weights) that can influence this battle. Were the second round of expert interviews need to assign a value for each of these factors for every competing technology—resulting in a performance grade used to make the prediction. This prediction indicates which firm/technology will likely have the upper hand in the market. The factors originate from the list of factors in combination with the Best-Worst Method (BWM), which allows evaluating the multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem (Rezaei, 2015a; v.d. Kaa, G., v.d. Ende, J., de Vries, H.J., van Heck, 2011).
Multiple studies expressed concerns that it is challenging to persuade and find experts willing to participate in the interview. Instead of finding a better way to approach the experts, this study focused on another solution not applied before in predicting standard battles. Hence, the objective was to understand, test, and examine how the Collective Intelligence (CI) of the crowd (i.e., group of random individuals) performs compared to experts. The idea of CI is that it does not reside in any individual but emerges from the group. When people's opinions are combined, their advice should be more truthful or similar to a typical expert's.
In other words, this quantitative exploratory study investigated if CI in comparison to experts differs when predicting standard battles. Hence, a literature review was required to provide deeper insights and factors that influence CI. This study explored the underlying mechanism of CI and established a conceptual model based on the theoretical background, which indicates the (moderating) relationship between ‘Diversity’ (DIV), ‘Group Size’ (GS), ‘Performance’ (PERF) of the crowd.
The variable DIV was measured based on differences in gender, age, degree, job, and nationality and expressed by the Simpson’s index, reflecting the number of different species and distributions (SIMPSON, 1949). As for GS, the only attribute measured was the number of people in a contrived group. Further, the definition of the PERF of a collective is the quantifiable difference in their solution relative to the prediction proposed by the experts (Wagner et al., 2010). Hence, this was dubbed ‘Relative Performance’ (RP) for the rest of this paper.
Prior research on standard battles was selected to test and validate the assertions in this study. This selection was based on several factors, such as the outcome of the battle was predicted by experts but where the ground truth is unknown. Doing so allowed validating if the crowd performs differently than experts in prediction tasks. The selected study involved the battle of two wind turbine technologies (WTT) dubbed ‘Gearbox’ (GB) and ‘Direct Drive’ (DD) (van de Kaa et al., 2020). Further, to interview the crowd, the traditional BWM questionnaire was converted into a cross-sectionally distributed online survey (i.e., MTurk) to obtain the data. Two hundred respondents completed the survey, but only 137 remained after pre-qualifications.
In this research, ‘groups’ were contrived from the sample that completed the prediction task. Here, the group members employ their expertise to carry out the given task. In other words, all group members performed the same activity and then were randomly pooled based on varying group sizes. Next, simplified random sampling was carried out twice. The first time this resulted in six groups with a respective size of 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40. A second time was required because the former did not provide a good range of DIV scores. Because of this limitation, the sample was sampled multiple times, which resulted in multiple subgroups with each a DIV score—resulting in five groups of size 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 137 with respectively 26, 13, 6, 4, 3, and 1 subgroup for comparison.
After sampling the data, the variables were tested for normality and homoscedasticity. The results indicate that the independent variables (i.e., DIV, GS) do not satisfy the normality assumption. Hence, the variables are not suited for parametrical testing. However, both the non- and parametrical tests were applied. Because ANOVA seems not to be very susceptible to modest divergence from normality. Namely, various studies used a variation of non-normal distributions and concluded that the false positive rate is not affected much if the notion of normality is not satisfied (Glass et al., 1972; Harwell et al., 1992; Lix et al., 1996). In addition, it was required to compare more than two groups. Hence, the One-Way ANOVA test (OWAT) and the Kruskal-Wallis Test (KWT) were selected to investigate the relationship between the variables (DIV, GS, RP). More specifically, the effects that GS or DIV can have on the RP of the crowd. In addition, due to systematic limitations with simplified random sampling, Bootstrapping (BOOT) and Monte Carlo (MC) were also performed respectively for the OWAT and KWT to investigate the relationship between DIV and RP. Lastly, the moderation effect was tested based on the Linear Regression (LR) method.
The results did not show any significant differences between DIV and RP, and any significant moderation effect. Hence, the initial hypothesis that a more diverse group of individuals would perform better was refuted. In addition, this research rejects the proposition that the relationship between GS and RP should be positively moderated by how diverse the crowd is. Consequently, this research was not able to conclude how these variables affected the PERF of the crowd. Nevertheless, the former results weaken the theory of (S. Krause et al., 2011; Nguyen et al., 2018; Surowiecki, 2005), who underlines the importance of DIV. In contrast, the results gave ample support to (Reynolds et al., 2017) and their claim that there is no correlation between DIV and PERF. However, their second assertion about an existing relationship between cognitive DIV was not tested. Hence, it is recommended that future studies investigate this relationship.
The findings did show a significant difference between groups for the variable GS in the case of GB WTT. Namely, when the size of the group increases, the PERF also proportionately increases with an upper limit, dubbed ‘Optimal Group Size’ (OGS). A U-shape relationship defines this relation between the variables. However, both the OWAT and KWT provide contradicting findings. Namely, findings from the OWAT suggest that the OGS consists of 15 people and that there is indeed a U-shape relationship between GS and RP, which proves that the claim of (Hashmi, 2005) and our hypothesis is correct. In contrast, the KWT indicates a relatively linear relationship, where the group of 10 and 20 performed significantly better than 30. However, OWAT showed that the group of 30 performed significantly better than the group of 10 and 20 people. Whereas the OGS was 10 and not 15 individuals. The results from the (non) parametrical for the location of OGS indicate that a group of 10 or 15 outperforms the other groups of smaller and bigger sizes. Hence, supporting the claim of (Carvalho et al., 2016) and weakening (S. Krause et al., 2011).
To conclude, how CI operated in this research depended on survey completion time, consistency ratio, selection of best and worst criteria, PERF grade, and the final prediction. Hence, this research concluded that the CI of the crowd did show differences in predicting the outcome of a standard battle compared to the expert pool. This was primarily based on the fact that the crowd had a PERF score that was two-thirds lower than that of the experts. Although, the crowd performed in some aspects in similar or better ways. This research only tested one case, limiting our insights if this happened due to chance or not. In addition, the main goal of this study was to investigate if the crowd could come up with the exact prediction. Meaning that the conclusion and the process (e.g., selection criteria and grading WTT) towards this conclusion should be similar to experts. However, this was not the case. In addition, the consistency ratio remains a matter of doubt since most of the results were initially unreliable, which required (logical) corrections to obtain reliable results. Making the comparison based on the consistency ratio rickety. To reiterate, the crowd performed differently than experts when predicting the outcome of the WTT battle. Despite various differences, the individual and groups would conclude a similar prediction like in the case of experts.
Occupational safety is concerned with potentially hazardous situations. Occupational safety has received a lot of attention in the last decade, and the Indian government is constantly working to improve occupational safety and reduce the risk of injuries in coal mines. According to the research, the current interventions implemented in Indian coal mines have a positive impact on occupational safety. The provision of proper mine infrastructure, adequate facilities for mine supervisors, availability of equipment, and primary school education can all help to improve the interventions in practice.
Similarly, interventions that are not yet in use can have a positive impact on occupational safety if implemented incorrectly.
The research helps to ensure the safety of workers. The study also provides policymakers and the directorate general of mine safety with insights into how to improve occupational safety, such as considering education, access to adequate for mine supervisors, and mine visits before developing policies to realize the true problems a worker faces regarding occupational safety.
Because of the complex structure of the company and the low-profit margins per product, pricing FMCG goods may be a difficult task to master.
Specifically, the thesis study investigates the sustainable efforts implemented by a particular brand. Through the case study, in-depth information about the brand is collected, including pricing practices and sustainability methods. In addition, the critical ICT tools are identified, and their impact on the product's pricing is analyzed through interviews and desk research.
The research output focuses on leveraging the data and information to maximize the profit margins based on the investment made. Furthermore, based on the ICT architecture observed throughout the study, suggestions are given that will assist organizations in achieving a better return on their investments.","Pricing Policy; sustainability strategy; ICT strategy process","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2026-10-13","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:638880cc-30cb-4e78-a3ca-157a674922ac","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:638880cc-30cb-4e78-a3ca-157a674922ac","Responsible Innovation and Organisational Change","VARLAMI, KONSTANTINA (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Doorn, N. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Yaghmaei, E. (graduation committee); Wiarda, M.J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Nowadays, research and innovation sectors undergo continuous change through innovations. Innovations consist of numerous environmental, social and financial factors that need to be linked with social and moral values. Towards this direction, the Responsible Innovation (RI) concept has emerged. Although RI is an extensively researched topic, there is a considerable gap between scholars referring to RI and those capturing RI’s institutionalisation in driving organisational change (Genus & Iskandarova, 2018; Yaghmaei, 2018). Therefore, this research seeks to answer the following question: “How effective is the use of Key Performance Indicators for Responsible Innovation in driving organisational change?” This analysis studies eight research (performing or funding) organisations, part of the H2020 Co-Change project, which aims to boost changes in organisational behaviour. Firstly, lab representatives from the studied organisations selected, clustered and weighed the most relevant Key Performance Indicators for their innovation projects. Secondly, participants were asked to measure their selected KPIs over time to assess performance within their labs regarding RI values. Thirdly, between these two rounds of assessment, exploratory, semi-structured interviews were conducted with lab managers and representatives to ask for clarifications behind their choices. Results indicate that anticipation is a highly relevant and desirable aspect in the innovation process that often remains at a theoretical level due to the lack of established, institutionalised activities for innovation processes. Inclusion of diverse stakeholders is essential for balancing all interests. However, it is challenging due to conflicting interests and scarcity of resources, resulting in the under-representation of several societal groups, such as end-users. Reflexivity it is perceived as the most complex dimension. Being utterly objective and putting personal assumptions, motivations or interests aside is challenging. Responsiveness is essential to point out the importance of receiving feedback from society and being attentive to needs regarding innovation (Stilgoe et al., 2013; Kupper et al., 2015). Finally, Openness and Transparency are desirable, but cannot always be possible due to privacy limitations. The main dimensions identified as relevant for the studied labs are diversity, transparency and inclusion in the design processes of the projects. The labs participating in this study benefit from it in various ways; either by small, incremental changes, as a result of gaining learning experience. However, even when no changes occur, the use of RI Key Performance Indicators is considered a helpful reflection tool that can eventually result in actual organisational change. Raising awareness and making researchers reflect on Responsible Innovation’s practices and values through the use of KPIs can eventually become more effective than what can be derived by simply looking at formal assessments, leading to more positive and responsible organisational behaviour. Future research in organisations operating in other industrial sectors, for prolonged periods, with quantitative methods, could be studied and introduced to the KPIs assessment to look for actual changes in organisational performance.","Responsible Innovation; Organisational change; Key Performance Indicators; Ethics; Institutional Theory","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:018d1a53-99ce-4452-8a33-a142463dca07","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:018d1a53-99ce-4452-8a33-a142463dca07","The Impact of Diversity on Organizational Ambidexterity","Ortiz Deveaux, Roberto (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The management of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) might represent a challenge. There are several concepts that affect the performance of SMEs. One is ambidexterity, which refers to the balance of activities for explorative and exploitative innovation. Another concept is diversity which encompasses differences in gender, age, cultural and functional backgrounds. Ambidexterity and diversity might be related as diversity influences the activities for explorative and exploitative innovation. It has been argued that successful organizations need to be ambidextrous. The relationship between a diverse middle management team (MMT) and top management team (TMT) might affect the organizational ambidexterity. This impact has not been fully explored within SMEs. The purpose of this research is to identify how diverse management teams can impact organizational ambidexterity. An exploratory approach was used to get a deep understanding and to answer the research question. First, a literature review was conducted to explore key concepts related to organizational ambidexterity and to identify diversity characteristics that might impact the relationship between MMT and TMT, affecting the organizational ambidexterity. Thereafter, semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the management team of Feedbackly to answer the research questions. This research found that diverse management teams have a direct impact in organizational ambidexterity by providing a pool of resources, increasing the expertise, knowledge, and capabilities of the organization. Nevertheless, complexity in managing diverse teams increases, as potential barriers might appear, hindering the relationship between the two levels of the management team. Additionally, organizations might struggle to recognize diversity as way to acquire additional resources, and it is often difficult to take advantage of the benefits of diversity in turning the organization ambidextrous.","Organizational Ambidexterity; Diversity; SMEs; Management","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0dde74a8-0eac-4c5d-bdb7-89c961d31600","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0dde74a8-0eac-4c5d-bdb7-89c961d31600","R&D productivity and disruptive innovation: An empirical analysis of the emerging biotechnology sector","Doornenbal, Eline (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The R&D productivity crisis is among the most pressing issues in the drug industry. The increasing costs and stable R&D outputs jeopardise the industry’s economic health, drug innovation, and the accessibility and affordability of medicines. The pharmaceutical R&D productivity problem is expected to be diminished due to biotechnological breakthroughs and the emergence of biotechnology firms. As a result, significant public and private investments and policy measures are aimed at stimulating the development of the biotechnology sector. In addition, firms in the pharmaceutical industry are adopting organisational strategies to mimic biotechnology companies. However, based on previous studies, the measures to stimulate the development of the biotechnology sector are not justified. Empirical evidence on the impact of the biotechnology revolution on pharmaceutical R&D productivity is limited and contradicting. Therefore, it is important for improving pharmaceutical R&D productivity to grasp biotechnology firms’ current and future contributions to R&D productivity.
This research analysed to what extent disruption of the pharmaceutical industry by biotechnology firms can reduce its R&D productivity decline. First, I assessed the current contribution of biotechnology firms to pharmaceutical R&D productivity. For every drug approved by the FDA between 2008 and 2015, I quantitatively analysed the relationship between biotechnological organisational characteristics and three determinants of R&D productivity: the commercial success, innovativeness and medical importance of the new drug. Second, I examined whether biotechnology firms disrupt the pharmaceuticals market via new-market disruption. I empirically tested for the presence of elements of the concept of new-market disruption using statistical tests.
From this research, I concluded that disruption by biotechnology firms does not and will not reduce the pharmaceutical R&D productivity decline. Instead, the development of new biotechnology firms likely has an adverse impact on R&D productivity. Moreover, new-market disruption in the drug industry is improbable to occur and will not provide the drastic reform the pharmaceutical industry needs to improve its R&D productivity.","R&D productivity; disruptive innovation; biotechnology; pharmaceutical industry","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6a965f45-d3ef-4a4e-bad0-1a0f0d59ad3a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6a965f45-d3ef-4a4e-bad0-1a0f0d59ad3a","""In between hopes and fears"": Exploring moral emotions and perceptions around genetically modified micro-organisms (GMMs)","Haak, Meinske (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Gammon, A.R. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Roeser, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Solving the world food problem, health, and sustainability issues have become principal objectives of modern biotechnology. With the help of genetic engineering, the DNA of micro-organisms can be altered to produce value-added products (e.g., enzymes, vitamins, and alternative proteins) efficiently and sustainably. There has been lots of research activity about public perception and acceptance of genetic engineering in the food industry during the last decades. The EU Regulations provide significant loopholes, and companies fear strong anti-genetically modified organisms (GMO) lobby due to early scandals to notably GMO plants and animals. Until now, most research groups studied the public perception of genetically modified animals (GMAs) and genetically modified plants (GMPs). However, the public perception towards genetically modified micro-organisms (GMMs) has not been studied intensively, while valuable products are hampered. This research explores public emotions and underlying ethical concerns towards GMMs in the dairy-based industry through literature research, semi-structured expert interviews, and online questionnaires. Experts in this field hypothesize that people look differently towards specific GMO products and that consumer acceptance rises when a clear benefit is given. Techno-ethical scenarios were created to study laypeople and to verify different propositions made by experts. Roeser (2018) argues that moral emotions can play an important role in judging the ethical aspects of risky technologies. We used the theoretical approach from Roeser (2018) as a guideline to offer concrete recommendations for further study and essential elements to consider for decision-making on GMM technology. From this research, it can be concluded that the opinions, as in other debates, do not seem to be polarized. The majority of the public feels optimistic about GMM products when it gives a clear benefit. The emotions point to ethical concerns that are most important for specific types of products and consumers. The negative emotions (fear, anger, powerlessness, irritation, and disgust) and positive emotions (interest, hope, joy, happiness, and surprise) link to awareness, trustworthiness, and autonomy to be essential for GMM product acceptance.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9c2c7efb-476c-44ea-9ad4-fa927d6f1c18","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9c2c7efb-476c-44ea-9ad4-fa927d6f1c18","Social Acceptance for Decommissioning Offshore Wind Farms on the North Sea","de Kruijf, Theo (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Stikkelman, R.M. (mentor); Correljé, A. (graduation committee); Lagerwerf, Jacob-Jan (graduation committee); Bloem, Ewoud (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) have developed into an integral part of the European energy transition in the fight against climate change. The North Sea, with its excellent wind conditions and soil characteristics, as well as ports and industrial energy consumers nearby, has become the epicenter of offshore wind development. The coming years will mark the start of commercial OWFs reaching their end-of-life. As a result, OWF owners must consider decommissioning, which includes all measures performed to return an OWF site, close to its original state, as is reasonably practicable. This socially and academically relevant subject is studied in this thesis, which offers a multi-disciplinary view on the impact of partial and complete decommissioning. It uses an established scientific theory for social acceptance for renewable energy innovations and critically assesses its applicability. Ultimately, this thesis makes recommendations for the promotion of social acceptance for decommissioning OWFs.","Offshore Wind; Offshore Wind Farms; Offshore Wind Energy; Decommissioning; Social Acceptance; Market Acceptance; Community Acceptance; Socio-Political Acceptance; Substructures; North Sea","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:553a0bd6-cca6-4989-91cb-b5bff62916c8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:553a0bd6-cca6-4989-91cb-b5bff62916c8","interactive Session for creating awareness of sharing concepts in construction logistics","Sinha, Ayushi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Enserink, B. (graduation committee); Kleiman, F. (graduation committee); deVries, A.M.R. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Due to increasing urbanisation, the basic necessities of housing demands are also on a rise. This leads to increase in construction activities and movement of construction vehicles to and from construction sites. However, the upcoming Green Deal 2025 policy would pose restrictions to the entry of construction vans, the most widely utilized transport for the sector, in the inner city areas. This reverse streams of problems for the sector pose an ardent need to effectively organise logistics in the sector. Even though there are exisiting solutions for tacking these issues in the sector such as use of Construction consolidation centres (CCC) in the sector, their use is limited to the bigger companies in the sector. Meanwhile, its adoption remains largely low due to the dominance of SMEs in the sector that suffer from financial limitations of organising these solutions and an unclear case of business case for them. This project is aimed to explore suitable collaborative sharing solutions for capacity sharing and presenting trade-offs in terms of qualitative and quantitative benefits of the solutions. The project devises an awareness session methodology to create awareness towards openness of these solutions in the chain. The session was evaluated with construction logistics experts and seems to attain its objective of creating awareness for the sharing concepts.","construction logistics; SMEs; shared economy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d45c0cb1-6cfc-45ef-a89e-e369fcec337d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d45c0cb1-6cfc-45ef-a89e-e369fcec337d","The Extent of Private participation in European Mission Oriented-innovation Policy: An exploratory analysis of the CORDIS database","Nair, Pranav (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Doorn, N. (graduation committee); Wiarda, M.J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The advent of the 21st century has seen economies worldwide increasingly investing towards developing smart and sustainable innovations for addressing social and environmental challenges such as climate change, adapting to demographic change, public health care an well-being etc. These challenges, often referred to as 'grand challenges' are extremely complex in nature and require dynamic collaborations between the state and private actors to explore and exploit new areas of growth, and develop suitable solutions for the same. Through mission-oriented innovation, policy makers provide a framework for systematically implementing mission-led research to bring together the willing public and private actors to create system-wide transformations across the entire value chain.
By virtue of its abundance of knowledge, skills and resources, the European Union provides a fervent ground for implementing mission-oriented innovation to address grand challenges, but this fragmentation could also make it an extremely complex scenario to do the same. However, through public funds such as the Horizon 2020 framework programme, the public sector can provide a foundation for initiating mission-oriented policies by funding the early, high-risk and uncertain stages of innovation, which private organizations and SMEs can capitalize on to develop smart innovations. In order to do so, the public sector must possess the appropriate set of dynamic capabilities for bringing private actors to actively work towards developing solutions for addressing grand challenges. Additionally, the fragmentation of knowledge and skills available across member nations of the European Union, industrial sectors or technologies differ, making it highly probable that the degree of private participants in mission-oriented innovation also differs.
This thesis identifies the extent of private participation in European mission-oriented innovation by qualitatively analyzing data extracted from the European Commission's Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) database. A descriptive statistical analysis of the data extracted from CORDIS has identified the current degree of private participation in initiatives encompasses in the Horizon 2020 framework programme. This study identifies the proportion of private participation in the various member states of the European Union and across different societal challenges. It also, identifies the participation of SMEs and incumbent in these initiatives. Based on the results obtained, this study discusses its implications for mission-oriented innovation and provides a scope for possible areas for future studies. Additionally, this study goes one step further to analyze the CORDIS database to understand it benefits and shortcomings.
Lastly, this study also provides recommendations for steering policies in a more effective to better suit actors/researchers/policy makers from specific regions or sectors. The results can be utilized by researchers to conduct studies to identify the dependent variables that directly affect the participation of private actors, which can open up areas of research to understand what factors drive the participation of actors in mission-oriented policies. It also provides insights on the possibilities of using the CORDIS database for steering mission-oriented research.","Mission-Oriented Innovation; Private Participation; CORDIS; European Union; SMEs; Dynamic Capabilities; Sectoral Innovation systems; technological Innovation systems; National Innovation systems; public sector","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2021-09-28","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:282eedf0-a4fc-4491-a707-c42cebe52a45","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:282eedf0-a4fc-4491-a707-c42cebe52a45","The Impact of Cloud Computing Disruption in Platform Markets: the Case of Cloud Gaming Platforms","Mol, Jurgen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Sand, M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Disruption by cloud computing innovation is increasingly prevalent, though its effects on platform markets is not well understood. This thesis documents a study of these effects through the cases of cloud gaming platforms in the gaming platform market and an expert survey to unveil how they are different from those previously discovered in other contexts. In doing so, the study contributes evidence on the nature of cloud computing disruption in platform markets in general.","platform markets; disruptive innovation; cloud computing; cloud gaming","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:cf50237e-6ee0-47a7-9989-29bbdbb4813d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cf50237e-6ee0-47a7-9989-29bbdbb4813d","Requirements Tracing in Agile Environments: A management-oriented approach: Developing a practical framework and roadmap to resolve the tensions of integrating requirements traceability in Agile environments","Iliuhin, Mihai (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Matheus, R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Scholars have studied for many years the challenges of integrating requirements traceability in Agile environments. The developed tools, frameworks, and models in the literature take a rather technical perspective on the problem. The scholars focus primarily on mechanisms that provide accurate and relevant information retrieval from the requirements database or analyze various techniques for creating valid links between requirements. Although the technical approach provides solutions to several scoped challenges, the scholars did not take into account the business goals, stakeholders’ needs, and business processes. In practice, the company resources, the development approach, and knowledge workers’ interests play a critical role in requirements traceability. As a result, multiple tradeoffs are required to develop a balanced and stable environment. In particular, the approaches are not in sync with agile development approaches, whereas the first requires documentation, the latter is focused on working software. Therefore, taking a business and management perspective on requirements traceability integration in Agile methodologies could bring new meaningful insights into solving existing challenges.
Management requires to make trade-offs between what is desirable and feasible given limited resources and the need to stay agile. As a result, a framework for making these trade-offs is developed. In addition, a model capturing the main elements needed for traceability is designed, which can be modified/customized by other companies to realize RT given the limitations (or no limitations) brought by resources and business goals/strategy.","Agile; Requirements Traceability; Business Process Modeling; Business Process Management; BPMN; Small and Medium enterprises; Management","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:333903ed-a601-428c-b385-4f2a16dbce43","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:333903ed-a601-428c-b385-4f2a16dbce43","Imagineering use of augmented reality in food supply chains: A study of Cargill's food safety and quality processes","Raghunath, Shreya (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Cappon, Juul (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","""Imagineering is letting your imagination soar, and then engineering it down to earth."" (Alcoa Aluminum, 1942)
The fourth industrial revolution is focused on integrating technologies into the production environment that can increase revenue and optimize production. As the lines between the physical and digital worlds are blurring with the introduction of new technologies, companies have to be open to digital transformations and employ new management approaches. Industry 4.0 has also shown to be a great opportunity for the progress of the food sector. Augmented reality smart glasses, a technology that is worn like normal glasses but overlays the user’s view with virtual information is one such technology within Industry 4.0 that can transform the internal processes of a business. However, in literature, opportunities for digitalization in the food sector seemed under-researched and had not covered the possibilities of digitalizing food safety and quality business processes using smart glasses.
Cargill is a multinational corporation operating in the areas of food, agriculture, financial, and industrial products, that started exploring the usage of augmented reality smart glasses in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these dire times, Cargill explored the solution of AR smart glasses for conducting remote food audits. However, this device was limited to this use case only Cargill was keen on expanding the applications of the novel technology. Additionally, they were looking for an implementation plan to adopt smart glasses in different use cases. The working, principles, and components required for the smooth functioning of augmented reality technologies were explored in great detail. Value drivers and barriers to adoption that may affect the future of the technology were studied. The domain of food safety, quality, and regulatory within the edible oils supply chain of Cargill was chosen to identify potential applications. Resources, competencies, and capabilities required to embrace the technology were recognized. Finally, an implementation plan was drafted for organizations that would like to adopt augmented reality smart glasses to digitalize relevant business processes.","Food Supply Chains Digitalization; Augmented Reality Smart Glasses; Augmented Reality; Digitalization; Industry 4.0; food supply chain","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e6f7b1cb-c269-4526-87e8-faf0868d5a66","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e6f7b1cb-c269-4526-87e8-faf0868d5a66","An Advisory Framework for the establishment of E-commerce for FMCG-food goods in the Middle East (MENA)","Furtado, Gavin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Khodaei, H. (graduation committee); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","This study aims to explain and understand how companies, more specifically Middle Eastern (MENA) companies in the FMCG-food sector can innovate from completely brick and mortar establishments to transition into an E-commerce platform (for FMCG-food goods) that enhances the willingness or intention to purchase these products on an online platform by meeting customers needs and demands. To further address this research question, a mixed qualitative approach is used. This included a series of interview questions split into two; the first section being structured - that revolves around the impact and gravity of the variables and sub-factors and the second section - that are more open questions which gives the floor to the interviewees to further add and elaborate based on their existing knowledge and/or experiences. The entire research is carried out in the Arabian Gulf with all the candidates approached having many years spent residing in one of the Middle Eastern (MENA) countries. On further analysis of these results a business model was derived which gives an advisory framework or the establishment of E-commerce for FMCG-food goods in the Middle East (MENA). E-commerce companies can refer to this advisory framework to further understand the important customer thinking habits and their needs and requirements.","E-commerce; FMCG; Middle East; Advisory Framework; Food goods; Online Platform","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c0c266bb-ac60-46c5-909d-8beb5dedf7d4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c0c266bb-ac60-46c5-909d-8beb5dedf7d4","An investigation of installation strategies to install next-generation offshore wind turbine generator components: Feedering vs. Shuttling, an efficient installation process for the future","Smorenberg, Marius (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Fazi, S. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (graduation committee); Schreier, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Climate change is triggering among others a larger demand for offshore wind energy. This leads to new developments of which larger next-generation Wind Turbine Generators is the most relevant. These next-generation WTGs create problems for the carrying capacity of current-day installation jack-up vessels that work according to the conventional installation method (shuttling). These installation vessels can carry less or even nil of these WTGs per trip compared to the current-day WTGs. Fewer turbines per trip would allow the larger current-day installation vessels to maintain their work. However, they have more sailing time since more trips are required. This could also be more inefficient since the Offshore Wind Farms are moving further offshore. The other option within the conventional method is to build larger installation vessels that would carry more WTGs per trip.
Another installation method in the literature called feedering is a potential substitute for the conventional method. Very limited research has been done for feedering as well the practical implementation whereas the conventional method has extensive research and is mostly used in practice. The models in the literature compared two different feeder methods, called, the base port feeder and feeder-ship method, to the conventional method. The models are generic and lack different strategies to find the best feeder solution. The feeder-ship method has the most potential to solve the aforementioned problems and is therefore further investigated to find the best installation strategy, being either the conventional or feeder method.
First of all, the feeder-ship method is evaluated based on practical knowledge and adapted so a base port is used to temporarily store all components that come from the production port. The feeder sails back and forth between the base port and the installation site to supply the installation vessel with WTG components. The installation vessel will stay at the installation site to be as efficient as possible (the least amount of sailing time). This research only looks at the feeder and installation side and leaves the port elements out of the problem. Feeder strategies (within this method) differ in the number of feeder vessels/types and transfer options using either barges or Platform Support Vessels and being indirect (transfer components onto the installation vessel) or direct (install components from the feeder). The installation vessel for feedering is also looked into as being either a current-day or a special feeder purpose installation vessel. Different carrying capacities of the installation vessels are used to create different strategies for the conventional method.
A stochastic Discrete Event Simulation model is created and used in this research to evaluate the strategies. The output of the DES simulation is the project duration per sailing distance and strategy. The costs for this duration is calculated in a costs model from the perspective of the contractor as well as the developer. Besides duration and costs (based on the European market), the strategies are also evaluated on emissions (fuel consumption) since this is an increasingly important element in the industry. A sensitivity analysis has been performed to get a better understanding of which critical parameters the feeder strategies are most sensitive to. The analysis is also used to find the best next-generation WTG installation strategy in Europe which is the main focus of this thesis.
The definitions of the main criteria to support the evaluation of operational improvements in flight operations were synthesized from literature and expert opinion. Using the Best-Worst Method, inter-criteria preference data were collected from seventeen senior and executive airline managers. The data were analyzed through the aggregation of individual preferences as well as probabilistic modeling.
Results from both approaches showed that ""Safety"" plays by far the most important role in the evaluation of operational innovations. It is followed by the four criteria, ""Employee Experience"", ""Passenger Experience"", ""Finance"", and “Sustainability"", between which there seems to be no evident relative preference based on the aggregation of individual data. From the probabilistic approach could be concluded that Finance outranks Sustainability, which in turn outranks Employee Experience and Passenger Experience. Still, neither the aggregation of individual data, nor the probabilistic model revealed practically meaningful differences between the magnitudes of the weights assigned to the four intermediate criteria. Both approaches established however, that the criterion “On-Time Performance” is clearly the least important.
The results presented in this study can be interpreted three ways: i) as a high-level framework to assess the priority of sustainability relative to the five other dimensions of the firm, which can be used by airline managers to develop an effective corporate strategy for the appraisal of operational improvements in flight operations; ii) as the conceptual foundation for the quantitative comparison of a set of projects with respect to the six perspectives presented in this report; and iii) knowing the relative preference from key decision-makers can help other practitioners to improve the performance of their innovative efforts.","airline strategy; sustainability; innovation management; multi-criteria decision-making; Best-Worst Method","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:8333ab52-1fa0-4d65-88b2-84bb41b6a2a5","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8333ab52-1fa0-4d65-88b2-84bb41b6a2a5","Vertical Farming in the Netherlands: Towards a Circular Food System: A Business Ecosystem Perspective","Koning, Tim (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Quist, J.N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The world’s current food system is unsustainable and considering the increasing human population, there is a demand for innovations in the circular food production. Simultaneously, food security be comes a topic of interest as greenhouse gasses cause more extreme weather conditions. Vertical farming potentially plays a vital role in the food system of the future. With its year-round production, clean facilities and urban farming principles, vertical farms proliferate themselves as circular and sustainable providers of food security.
This study aims to find the enabling and constraining factors that influence commercial success of a Dutch vertical farming startup. It does so in an exploratory setting and from a business ecosystem perspective, which a six dimensional empirical framework (6C Framework) analyses. A thorough actor search, technological analysis and indepth casestudy provide data for the analysis. The casestudy investigates a startup business ecosystem and delivers most in-depth knowledge on a Dutch vertical farming business ecosystem.
A first finding is the overall good relationship and trust in combination with a shared vision towards a global sustainable food system. The second finding is the lack of co-creation due to limited resources and the birth stage of the sector, which hampers a dominant design and optimal efficiency. In addition, there is secrecy among vertical farms about knowledge and design. This hampers the creation of a fore front in vertical farming that could educate society and take a lead in innovation. A last finding focuses on the new value creation from vertical farms around branding that may provide a sustainable business model.
In reality, innovation finds its true purpose in the hands of consumers, and the relationship between consumers and missions is crucial for the longevity contribution to the success of the innovation. However, the existence of policies in the system does not ensure public demand, although it claims to tackle the challenge. The root cause and the factors causing demand articulation failure in transitions is unknown. Although Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies are deployed in the EU to reach sustainable development goals, there is often a lack of demand for innovation to achieve economic growth and address societal challenges.
The concept of demand articulation emphasized the need to investigate the barriers to consumption, as the ideas of consumption and demand are linked. This study aims to address factors that impede consumption to understand demand articulation failure. The research is based on exploratory methodology and is designed to add relevance to the MIP by diving into the case of the Dutch fashion industry and drawing insights from the case.
Prior research under-addresses consumption aspects in the fashion industry. Also, Circular Economy literature mainly focuses on the production side, exploring business models but does not pay attention to the consumer impact or consumption. Lack of consumption of circular products and services has been a hindering factor for circular business models. Fashion consumption is inherently socially significant in our consumer society and should be considered vital to the sustainable consumption discussion. The present study explores the impeding factors by analyzing the micro-level consumption that individuals encounter, as no previous study in the context of transitions has been done.
This study uses a qualitative approach to understand the complex problem of sustainability in the fashion industry. The main research findings included diverse methods for a consumer to contribute to circularity in the fashion industry. Also, there is not an integrated experience that supports the consumer to act circularly. Moreover, the influence of the identified factors varies depending on the consumption method. To obtain a generalized view, the identified consumption methods were associated with the 9-R framework of circularity. Finally, implications have been provided to fashion companies and policymakers based on the findings.
The research findings conclude that there are diverse methods through which a consumer can contribute towards circularity in the fashion industry. However, there is not an integrated experience that supports the consumer to act circularly. The consumer contribution methods included donating, sharing, consuming sustainable clothing, Vintage clothing, rental clothing, second-hand clothing, recyclable/ recycled clothing.
The researcher developed an understanding that circular fashion cannot be considered holistic as it consists of multiple variables that could vary based on the consumption method. Hence, to obtain a more generalized view, the consumption methods were associated with the 9R framework of strategies. This included Sharing and donating, Reducing consumption and consuming sustainable fashion, Vintage, Rental and second-hand clothing, Upcycling, Recyclable/ Recycled Clothing. It was evident that the influence of certain factors can be generalized; however, some factors have a varied influence according to the choice of the consumption methods. For instance, some factors followed a general trend, namely, price, income, awareness and knowledge, availability, culture, and transparency. Other factors whose influence depended on the consumption method included age, product attributes, gender, hygiene, the company's marketing power, brand loyalty, and ease of recycling.
Circular fashion consumption methods are so diverse that it is impossible to generalize the influence of the identified factors. Hence, for future research, the researcher should focus on a single R strategy and focus on the consumption methods. By focusing on a single R strategy or a particular consumption method, an in-depth analysis could be done to understand the barriers that obstruct consumption with the respective R strategy. Finally, implications have been provided to the policymakers and the companies trying to transition towards circularity for increasing consumption.
Moreover, the thesis aims to contribute to the stock of knowledge on Mission-oriented Innovation Policies (MIP) as it although aims to address societal challenges but often ignores the cause of demand-articulation failure. Through this research, consumer behaviour has been analyzed so that demand failure could be addressed. This is done by linking MIP literature with consumer behaviour and adoption literature. This research aims to add relevance by identifying the micro-factors (individual-level) that impede consumption in the transition in the presence of Mission-Oriented innovation policies. The factors impeding consumption would further address the demand articulation failure. The insights through the case study regarding the potential barriers would contribute to a better understanding of market creation.
price volatility, macro-economic trends, Github statistics, Google trends score, Twitter sentiment, community size and Internet activity levels. The model proposed in this thesis can help managers, developers and investors alike in understanding external risks to cryptocurrency projects.","Cryptocurrencies; external variables; market dynamics; macro-economics; social media sentiment; GitHub; Bitcoin; Ethereum","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:92f7d76e-b3ae-4a95-9790-8c2450300726","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:92f7d76e-b3ae-4a95-9790-8c2450300726","Extending Maturity Models With E-Procurement: Measuring and improving purchasing maturity of purchasing and supply management organisations in digital procurement","van Dijk, Menno (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Transport and Logistics)","Fazi, S. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Digital transformation in procurement is important for Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) organisations to develop global organisational competitiveness. Generally, procurement performance can be determined and improved through the use of a maturity model. Existing models do not cover the latest (e-)procurement processes (E-Sourcing, Procure-to-Pay, and Supplier Relationship Management) resulting from digitalisation. Therefore, an extension to existing maturity models was required to assess company performance. A literature study was conducted to describe and explain meaningful concepts and several maturity models were selected to review and compare the frameworks most suitable for an extension. Experiences of a major PSM organisation called the Corporate Group strengthened the research study by determining key topics and industry best practices, providing a foundation for the extension. A company analysis resulted in an understanding of (digital) procurement and the selection of Schiele (2007) due to its comprehensiveness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with procurement experts to review Schiele's model and develop an extension. The extended model contains an additional spend management domain and a new dimension covering e-procurement. Multiple purchasing functions and stage descriptions were developed, whereby the model consists of 56 original and 22 new assessment questions. The new dimension includes Spend & Data Management, Contract Management, Market Intelligence, E-Sourcing, Transactional Procurement, and Supplier Relationship Management. Entity A is part of The Corporate Group and provided the ideal opportunity to test the extended model through a multiple-case study. Maturity assessments were conducted of several operating companies (OpCos) to determine maturity levels and whether the extended model actually measured purchasing maturity. The extended model was able to quickly provide a performance overview and guide the OpCos towards improvement. Self-assessments as an alternative for third-party audits were provided, including a digitalised approach to process data easily. However, comparing results among OpCos outside of their sub-unit delivered an unexpected outcome. It was questionable whether the model measured purchasing maturity or rather the perception of it. Although the results were unexpected, the extension appeared to be more accurate. This was most likely due to the elaborate stage descriptions, enabling assessors to identify stage levels more easily. This research study provided a foundation for assessing e-procurement using an extended maturity model but limited itself to the Corporate Group. Thereby, it confirmed the criticism regarding the four stages being too rigid. Potential future research is recommended to improve both the extended model and the assessment approach. First, it must be shown to what extent e-procurement is covered in the new dimension and whether the extended model can be sufficiently generalised. Interviews should be conducted with procurement experts from different companies or industries to validate the extension through statistical analysis. Secondly, the assessment approach could be improved by including a control person and more experienced people, ensuring critical thinking and more realistic maturity levels. Self-assessments are not necessarily less reliable compared to external audits, but they rather need support to guide the process through a standard protocol. The subsequent step should be to formalise a proper action plan to initiate improvement.","Purchasing Maturity; E-procurement; Maturity Model; Assessment; Measurement; Extension","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5fe02090-5fdb-49e0-8e38-bc40cec255a0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5fe02090-5fdb-49e0-8e38-bc40cec255a0","Effects of goal-dependent implementation choices on the achievement of goals in Participatory Value Evaluation processes","Bouwmeester, Marjolein (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Mouter, N. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Spruit, Shannon (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","As public participation is increasingly used, more and more scholars publish about how to execute it effectively and its facilitation and running has become a profession. The research on effective participation that investigates the combination of the possible ways to realise public participation and the goal that it is pursuing is, however, limited. A relatively novel online participation method is Participatory Value Evaluation (PVE). This method was initially developed as an instrument to measure social welfare but has organically transformed to a public participation method of which the function of economic evaluation has been dropped. This thesis investigates how the achievement of goals is affected by goal-dependent implementation choices.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:aef2bf5a-1549-4cf2-95e2-a431f3850e96","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:aef2bf5a-1549-4cf2-95e2-a431f3850e96","A Study to Evaluate the Impact of Policy Mixes on the Outcomes of Cycling Climate within Municipalities","Narayana Reddy, Pavan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Veeneman, Wijnand (mentor); Kroesen, M. (mentor); Goyal, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","During the 1990s, Dutch bicycle policy took shape within the Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) framework, part of the Second Transport Structure Plan (Tweede Structuurschema Verkeer en Vervoer SVV-II a) for the period 1990-2010. A decentralized policy execution approach was followed, where the municipalities were encouraged to form their policy instruments related to bicycles and execution plans. The term ""Cycling Climate"" will be used in this research project about the cycling levels and bicycle use. The cycling climate success cannot be credited to the standalone policy but a combination of procedures such as transport, land-use, urban development, housing, environment, taxation, and parking sectors. These policies can be termed ""Policy Mix "", contributing to the transition from motorized transport to sustainable active transport. Apart from the policy mixes, various other exogenous factors influence the cycling climate in municipalities. Studies have tried to evaluate the factors and policy instruments contributing to the uptake of cycling activities in The Netherlands. Still, scarce research or literature is available examining the combined effort of the policy mix in influencing cycling climate in the respective municipalities. Therefore, a comparative case study of Zwolle and Enschede municipalities is conducted to understand the impact of the policy mix approach on the cycling climate in the Netherlands. In Zwolle, the cycling climate has witnessed continuous improvements between 2000 and 2020. However, the policy mix during this period is characterized by weak consistency and credibility. The policy formulation process had remained coherent, whereas the policy implementation process had changed from being coherent to non-coherent during 2009-2020. These characteristics have remained the vital drivers of the policy mix success and seem to have influenced the cycling climate in the city. In Enschede, the cycling climate had declined during 2000 and 2010, before recovering and improving between 2010 and 2020. During the first decade, the policy mix did not exhibit any of the visible characteristics. However, during the second decade, the policy mix was characterized by credibility and consistent policy instruments. In addition, the process of policy formulation and implementation was coherent. These characteristics were the vital drivers of the policy mix success and could have influenced the rapid improvement in the cycling climate. The absence of a consistent and coherent policy mix coincided with the decline in cycling climate in Enschede during the period 2000-2008. The resurgence in cycling climate happened during the next decade when the municipality adopted a consistent, coherent, and credible policy mix. In Zwolle, a sustained and slightly improving cycling climate has coincided with the existence of a credible and weak-consistent policy mix. The consistency and coherency of the policy mix have changed in Zwolle over the two decades, but the policy mix has been supported by leadership and administrators. Hence, the policy mix design seems to influence the cycling climate and cycling policies in Zwolle and Enschede. The evidence from both the municipalities shows that following a policy mix approach has benefited the cycling climate within the municipalities. Furthermore, the political and administrative support and the participation of the interest groups have contributed to the success of the policy mix in both Zwolle and Enschede. Therefore, municipalities and policy researchers or consultants working towards improving the cycling climate can try the policy mix approach to improve the cycling climate within their respective municipalities.","Policy Mix; Cycling Policy; Bicycle; Case Study Research; Sustainabilty; Transport policy; Zwolle; Enschede; Policy success","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","52.0126341,4.3555860"
"uuid:b9943231-dec3-4637-a42a-5734bafacb8a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b9943231-dec3-4637-a42a-5734bafacb8a","Understanding the Potential of Augmented Reality in Manufacturing Processes","Kaufmann, Felix (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Rook, L. (mentor); Lefter, I. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Increasing flexibility requirements and skill gaps resulting from today’s world of globalisation and digitisation pose constant challenges for manufacturing companies. Augmented Reality (AR) applications offer an efficient way to overcome these tensions by enhancing the interaction between people and technology. However, individual models in the scientific literature show ambiguous findings, and a statistically powerful empirical assessment is still missing. Hence, this research project aims to understand the potential of AR applications in manufacturing environments by aggregating the empirical findings. For this purpose, the following research question is posed: ’Can the use of AR solutions benefit manufacturing activities and if so, how?’. Following the media naturalness theory by Kock [2005], this research hypothesises that AR solutions in comparison to classical instructions have a reducing effect on processing times, errors rates, and cognitive load levels of workers during manufacturing activities. To answer the research question and prove the hypotheses, this research project conducts three meta-analyses in which several small studies are synthesised into one large study. Specifically, the meta-analyses address the evaluation criteria ’time’, ’errors’, and ’cognitive load’. The underlying systematic literature search to collect and evaluate relevant data follows the framework by Vom Brocke et al. [2009]. What is more, this research project examines the interrelationships between the evaluation criteria and moderating variables using meta-regressions. Finally, surveys with industrial experts in a consumer goods and chemical company support and expand the findings from the meta-analyses and the meta-regressions. The meta-analyses show that AR applications in comparison to classical instructions indeed have a reducing effect on the described evaluation criteria. In particular, based on the studies, a small, reducing effect can be achieved for ’time’, a medium, reducing effect for ’errors’, and a small to medium, reducing effect for ’cognitive load’. For this reason, all three previously formulated hypotheses are accepted. Furthermore, in line with the media naturalness hypothesis by Kock [2005, p. 122], the meta-regressions show that ’cognitive load’ moderates the evaluation criterion ’time’. The results are validated with the help of the expert surveys in the company context, with time savings being identified as the greatest potential and lack of proven profitable business models as the greatest challenge. Further research could, on the one hand, focus on repeating the meta-analyses as soon as new empirical studies are available and on the analysis of moderating variables. On the other hand, a long-term validation in manufacturing environments across industries is still missing and could show further scientific and practical relevance.","Augmented Reality; Manufacturing; Meta-Analysis","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c303cca7-db9d-458c-a04f-18368c8debe8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c303cca7-db9d-458c-a04f-18368c8debe8","Managing Blockchain Based Digital Identity for Payment System","Krisna Setioaji, Krisna (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Online technology has transformed how people pay and utilise various services; payment methods that are mobile, fast, efficient, and secure have become basic needs. However the current usage of digital identity implementation in payment services faces several data vulnerability. Therefore, a revolution in digital identity is needed, such as utilizing the blockchain-based digital identity. However, literature in blockchain-based digital identity specifically used for the government’s payment ecosystem is still limited. Most blockchain research in the financial field focuses on the transactional part and mostly researching the technology on how it can enable the self-sovereign identity. None have discussed how blockchain-based digital identity can impact the payment system and examine its socio-technical changes within the ecosystem. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap before governments can implement the technology by identifying the suitable type of blockchain architecture for the payment ecosystem, its impact on the current payment ecosystem and stakeholders, and finally, how the system will be governed. The case study of this research based on the perspective of Indonesia because of its growth in digital payment ecosystem. This research contributes in identifying high-level requirements to develop a blockchain-based digital identity based on the needs of the relevant actors and the scope of the payment ecosystem. Furthermore, this study reflects that implementing a blockchain-based identity in an established ecosystem is a complex task, not merely an IT project but also a change in the whole ecosystem. This study is expected to assist policymakers, regulators and the public regarding the potential advantages and challenges of using a blockchain-based digital identity.","Payment System; digital identity; blockchain; Blockchain Technology; Blockchain Use Cases; Blockchain Based Digital Identity; Self Sovereign Identity","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a6fc6088-8768-4985-b4cb-3fd9ccb9e379","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a6fc6088-8768-4985-b4cb-3fd9ccb9e379","Combating COVID-19 Infodemic on Social Media: A Comparative Institutional Analysis","Govindaraj Ayyanar, Arjun (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Correljé, A. (mentor); Metoui, N. (graduation committee); van Bergem, R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","In recent years, false information on social media platforms has become a centre of attention due to its consequences on elections and public health. COVID-19 has shown how an infodemic fuelled by false information can be detrimental to public health. Existing measures are ineffective. Thus, the thesis takes an exploratory approach from the lens of new institutional economics. A comparative institutional analysis between public health institutions and social media platforms concerning their information discovery process and how differences between them can lead to false information on social media platforms is performed. The findings question whether false information is as widespread on social media platforms as projected, identifies the role of public health institutions and politicians in the spread of false information, how information is regulated on social media platforms and what drives the information discovery process on social media platforms. Based on the comparative institutional analysis, it is recommended to implement prediction markets to address false information on social media platforms.","Fake News; social media platform; False information; Misinformation; Covid-19; Comparative institutional analysis; New Institutional Economics; prediction markets; infodemic; public health institutions; Combatting; Disinformation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9f93b198-c16b-4070-b176-c2977761bb31","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9f93b198-c16b-4070-b176-c2977761bb31","Social movements' impact on policy making process for cycling","Dimou, Maria (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Goyal, N. (graduation committee); Veeneman, Wijnand (mentor); Kroesen, M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Nowadays cycling rates in most European cities are increasing, while many governments are looking for ways to integrate cycling into the daily lives of citizens not only as a leisure activity but also as an official means of transport. At the same time, a large part of the population itself aims to influence decision-makers and urban planners to make cities more sustainable and to actually adopt pro-cycling policies. This section of the population that desires a policy change often forms social movements that aim to make their demands heard and make substantial improvements. Such social movements are known from the past for their influential contribution to various burning issues such as gender equality, ecology, environmental protection, sustainability and many others. Various researchers have shown that social movements and advocacy groups present different compositions and work to promote change by targeting public opinion, the political arena, or both. However, the existing literature and previous research on their contribution to the promotion of cycling in the policy making process are quite limited. Therefore, this research sought an answer to the question: How do social movements influence the successful adoption or implementation of a favorable/positive cycling policy? Through a literature study on the theory of social movements together with the principles of the Multiple Streams Model by Kingdon, a theoretical framework is developed to better hypothesize how policy adoption and implementation works and how movements can influence it. Indeed, the report revisits Kingdon’s concept with a particular focus on social movements and their various activities in the policy making process. The key components of the MSF are the problem stream, the politics stream, the policy stream, the window of opportunity and the policy entrepreneur. Using this model in conjunction with social movement theory, three hypotheses have been developed and tested for the three cases. The comparative case study approach is used to allow a deeper understanding of the impact of social movements on the development of positive cycling policies and the events behind the adoption of the cycling policies in three European capitals where there is evidence of social activism are extensively analyzed. These were the cities of Amsterdam, Stockholm and Dublin. The main data sources were articles, scientific papers, local newspapers, magazines and blogs along with transcripts of interviews. Besides, through semi-structured online interviews, the perspectives of relevant stakeholders in the three cities, such as members of social movements and experts in the field of policy-making and policy analysis were investigated. The next step after collecting all the necessary data was the content and narrative analysis, in order to connect the cases in a meaningful way but also to identify common patterns. Conclusively, the findings from the three cases were compared and contrasted based on their differences and similarities in the strategy followed by the social movements, the emergence and constitution of their groups and generally their effectiveness in achieving favorable changes for cyclists. Overall, the report argues that by determining the role of movements within the streams there is an added value to the explanatory power of the context. Influencing the problem stream and seeking public support is a prerequisite for strengthening social movements, while they tend to use methods such as indicators and focusing events to determine the perception of the problem in the society. Identifying the problems and highlighting them to the public may be secondary if the movements themselves, due to their composition, know how to negotiate with decision makers directly. This is because social movements and advocacy organizations also aim to influence government agencies, especially when there is no political will for change or when they have the right means to approach them in terms of power and knowledge. The need for active negotiation with the political stream increases when there are strong policy opponents influencing the board in the background. These rivals often come from the automotive industry as they have conflicting interests with cycling policies that tend to undermine car dominance. Lastly, regarding the policy stream and proposals for change that usually come from the community of policy experts, it is not impossible for movements to contribute even to this stream, if they have the necessary knowledge and expertise to do so. Otherwise, seeking for interaction with experts in the field can help activists to get realistic policy proposals that can be used in their discussions with the decision makers. Furthermore, when there is a clearly defined problem, politicians are willing to adopt a realistic political solution, and a policy entrepreneur couples these streams at a window of opportunity, the result may be in favor of activists. A noticeable finding was that social movements themselves can also play the role of the policy entrepreneur and articulate the three streams. As Kingdon suggested, social movements can invest their efforts to closely collaborate with the decision makers and push for their interests. At the same time, they can also work towards influencing the three streams in different ways and emphasizing on different aspects depending on the composition of their teams, the timing of their appearance and the legal framework of the country. There may also be some other important parameters such as scale of the city, the funding availability, the shape of old inner cities or the existence of historic centers that can facilitate the movements' success in influencing a pro-cycling policy adoption. Despite the importance of these contextual parameters, this study shows that success lies in the hierarchy of cycling, arguing that whenever there is a will, a realistic way can be found. After all, social movements, in order to achieve the best result and be mostly effective, they should be aware of their strengths that are directly related to their knowledge of the cycling policy-making process, their size and passion. In this way, they can choose the right strategy to follow and influence the political scene. Besides, for people who wish to promote cycling and sustainable way of travelling it is crucial to find others with a common view, because although every voice matters, when these voices become collective, they are more likely to be heard and taken seriously by the decision-makers. Finally, policymakers need to be more open to dialogue with such groups, as they represent a legitimate part of society and can bring issues that ordinary people cannot include on the political agenda. Ultimately, actively listening and constructively discussing activists’ demands in a friendly environment -always under a realistic point of view- can also be beneficial to their political future In conclusion, the knowledge gathered through this report on the ways in which movements can bring about policy change has to do with the political status and legal framework of each country. It is therefore worth noting that, as this study focused on democratic capitals, this may have an impact on the generalizability of results for countries with very different policy frameworks.","Cycling; Social movements; Policy-making; Multiple Streams Framework; Advocacy groups; Policy adoption; policy implementation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:af3ca21d-9148-4bd5-a4b6-9f69d0dd1d6d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:af3ca21d-9148-4bd5-a4b6-9f69d0dd1d6d","Accelerating the transition to Circular Economy: The development of a CE visibility evaluation framework for blockchain-enabled data pipeline solutions","Kofos, Angelos (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Information and Communication Technology)","Ubacht, J. (mentor); Tan, Y. (graduation committee); Korevaar, G. (graduation committee); Rukanova, B.D. (graduation committee); Kouwenhoven, Norbert (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Humanity faces the challenge of dealing with resource exhaustion and environmental destruction. The root of these issues lies in the linear economic model established after the industrial revolution. This model relies on two fundamental principles, limitlessness and easily accessible resources and unlimited earth regenerative capacity. The economy thrives by consuming planetary resources to manufacture products and generating wastes by disposing of products in the landfills or incinerating them when they are no longer desirable. However, the growing planet’s population and the limited regenerative earth capacity make this model unsustainable. The circular economy (CE) represents an alternative to the current consumption pattern. It is an economic model aspiring to limit the use of virgin resources in the production systems and eliminate the waste streams by promoting a closed resource loop. The transition to CE is at the top of the agendas of both policymakers and companies (defined as CE auditing actors), which have initiated policy instruments to catalyze it. Such policy instruments could vary from regulations to additional taxes for eco-unfriendly goods. These policy instruments are prone to manipulations when there is a lot at stake. An indicative example is the case, in which plastic waste exported from the Netherlands to Turkey for recycling or reuse was illegally dumped. To prevent such adversities, the CE auditing actors need a monitoring system to control the implementation of their policy instruments and enforce compliance when necessary. Such a system should provide visibility in the flows of raw materials and products in the supply chain and detect frauds. The need for a monitoring system can be addressed by leveraging the research on the data pipeline concept. A data pipeline is an IT infrastructure capturing data at the source. It equips authorities with data shared by the businesses voluntarily and in real-time. This data pertains to the flows of goods from a seller in an exporting country to a buyer in an importing country. Traditionally, data pipelines have been used by customs to access information stored in the traders’ information systems willing to be transparent. The supply chain visibility currently captured by data pipelines is not sufficient to serve CE. They need to be extended to monitor the entire journey of materials and products in the CE context. Furthermore, to unleash the full potential of the shared data, the data recipients need to have trust in the data and its quality. This condition can be satisfied by using blockchain-enabled data pipelines. Blockchain is a technology that exceeds the capabilities of traditional information systems thanks to four characteristics, namely, decentralization, auditability, immutability, and smart contracts. The thesis dives into the research domain of blockchain-based data pipeline solutions by investigating their ability to support the CE transition. For that reason, it develops a framework that evaluates their ability to enforce compliance with CE policy instruments by acting as monitoring systems. The evaluation framework identifies the information requirements needed to be captured by such architectures to monitor the journey of materials and products in a closed-loop supply chain.","Circular Economy; Data Pipeline; Blockchain Technology; Digital Infrastructure; Supply Chain Visibility; Global Trade; Design Science Research; Governance; Closed-Loop Supply Chain","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3afff8e7-0e76-44bb-98e5-e75e9569766a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3afff8e7-0e76-44bb-98e5-e75e9569766a","Alternative fuels in heavy-duty truck transport for a sustainable future: A study assessing the feasibility ranking of hydrogen, battery electric, biodiesel HVO and LNG powered trucks in European heavy-duty transport when a JIT/JIS supply chain strategy is applied","Haster, Jur (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); van Wee, G.P. (graduation committee); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Since the last decade, climate change and environmental awareness has received increasingly more attention from politicians and companies. In order to preserve earth’s climate, a lot has to be changed in current industry standards. In 2018, heavy-duty road transport was responsible for 680 million tonnes kg in transported commodities in the Netherlands (CBS, 2019). This resulted in 10.176 million tonnes of emitted CO2 in the same year (CBS, 2020). As these transportation activities are a big part of the current pollution, there is a lot to be gained in this area. Therefore, industries are investigating to make their transportation activities more sustainable.Large manufacturing plants often apply specific supply chain strategies in order to reduce waste. One of those wastes are warehousing costs. Just-in-Time (JIT) and Just-in-Sequence (JIS) are supply chain strategies that aim to reduce these costs (Bányai & Bányai, 2017). A JIT supply chain strategy refers to a strategy where commonly used parts are delivered at the plant when needed, therefore reducing storage capacity. A JIS strategy goes even further. When products are customizable, a JISstrategy ensures that the required parts are delivered in the sequence of production.Upon till now, a lot has been researched with regard to alternative fuels in heavy-duty transport, especially in the hydrogen and battery electric area. However, these studies often stay on a general logistics level. Specific concepts such as JIT and JIS may influence choices for alternative fuels due to more important time constraints such as a predefined and strict pearl chain horizon. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to research the feasiblity ranking of alternative fuels (hydrogen, battery electric, HVO and LNG) in a JIT/JIS supply chain.","Alternative fuels; Heavy duty vehicles; Sustainabilty","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:38fe1a6e-8734-4e85-ac19-a188a93b5a0d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:38fe1a6e-8734-4e85-ac19-a188a93b5a0d","Expanding the Quantified-Self: To optimize performance of knowledge workers and to minimize burnout risk","Matla, Laurens (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ding, Aaron Yi (graduation committee); Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Burnouts are a severe, negative consequence of lacking performance management within firms and a result of a disbalance between energy input (e.g: sleep, social activities, physical activity) and output (e.g: workload, anxiety on the job, caring for a kid) Burnouts lead to employment challenges for firms, resulting in a potential threat for the strategic competitive advantage for the firm. Moreover, on an individual level, high risks of burnout lead to severe consequences for the individual health of knowledge workers (e.g: cardiac diseases, impact on personal life, auto-immune-diseases) and major costs for both the society and firms itself. Dutch Journalists of the NRC concluded that an average burnout accounts for €60.000,- per burnout, while the total societal burden account for €1.8 billion each year as a result of direct and indirect effects of burnouts. Despite the competitive significance of vital employees for firms, we see an increasing number of burn-out related cases within the Netherlands. In 2019, 14,6 people per thousand inhabitants were officially diagnosed with neurasthenia/surmenage (=burnout) by their general practitioner. Moreover, in 2018, Approximately 16,4% of the male employees and 18,1% of the female employees experienced “multiple times or more” burn-out related symptoms during the month. Generally, this is 1 out of 6 employees of the Dutch workforce. This account for a 41% increase of burn-out related symptoms with men and an increase of 66% of burn-out related symptoms with women. The Quantified-Self (QS) philosophy prescribes the approach of the human being as a machine and, following the QS fanatics, has the potential to optimize performance. For example, the QS-approach is widely adopted within athletes sporters to optimize performance based on oxygen-levels and heartrate measurements. However, measuring different elements of the human body (such as nutrition, sleep or physical activity) has not yet been able to decrease the development of burn-out related symptoms. This research addresses the question on how the quantified-self and life-logging can contribute to the optimization of energy management within firms, and thus decrease the risk on burn-out related amongst knowledge workers and implicated side effects as stated above. First, an integrative, holistic framework is presented (the Vitality Map) which incorporates all relevant determinants (21 in total) influencing the knowledge worker battery, and thus, determine sustainable performance of knowledge workers. These determinants are categorized on four levels, which consist of two levels of non-adjustable determinants and two levels of adjustable determinants. An extensive literature is conducted, integrating five theoretical domains which lay around the solution, including health & vitality, artificial intelligence, knowledge workers, performance management and human resource management systems. Based on the literature research, societal and competitive challenges are analyzed and translated into 9 Design Objectives. The Design Objectives are generic objectives which human resource management systems should incorporate in order to facilitate optimal performance management of individual knowledge workers within firms. The following Design Objectives are formulated:Thirdly, the Performance Management System (PFMS) Framework is developed, which builds forward on the Vitality Map and which presents how the data collection, aggregation, analysis and presentation should be implemented within firms. The PFMS is presented in Figure 2. This framework provides a fundamental description of the performance delivery process (energy charge to performance) and shows how the data can contribute to informed consent in performance management and policy developments, which leads to better strategic decision making in firms in relation to the human resources available within the organization and preventive interventions which decrease the costs which are associated by curation of burmouts. Moreover, the PFMS Framework suggests how the positing and collaboration of health, vitality and performance consultants and internal stakeholders within the firm can cooperate in order to optimize human resources within the company. At last, the research contributes to the scientific development of cross-disciplinary approaches in human resource practices. Five theoretical domains are integrated and incorporated in a single artefact which is supported by the interviewees. Further research is suggested to explore the practical implementation of the artefact prototype as developed in this This Thesis Research. However, human resource managers and IT managers within firms can adopt the practical tools as provided in this Research Paper.","Quantified-Self; Burn-out; Performance Management; Human Resource Management; Machine Learning","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:36ffbfb0-cae2-4caa-8834-0fcb1b2057c6","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:36ffbfb0-cae2-4caa-8834-0fcb1b2057c6","The Future of Additive Manufacturing of Spare Parts","Rao, Akshay (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Zimmermann, Stefan (graduation committee); Kwaspen, Hans (graduation committee); Cuadrado, Raul (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The master thesis project explores the spare parts business due to the evidence available on how well it contributes to the revenues and profits of firms. With increasing product variety, shorter product lifecycles and market competition, it is necessary for firms to supply spare parts to customers for keeping the products functional. Forecasting for the spare parts aftermarket is difficult due to fluctuating demand rates. These issues make spare parts management challenging. Moreover, the covid-19 pandemic has complicated spare parts management and increased its importance. Therefore, the spare parts business presents opportunities to utilize Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology to solve issues related to spare parts management, which is the focus of this master thesis project. The thesis project has been carried out at Atos SE in the manufacturing consulting domain. Atos aims to identify the technical and economic criteria for selecting spare parts to be produced by AM technology and explore various business models to print and deliver spare parts to customers. The thesis objective has been achieved by conducting a market study on AM technologies & spare parts, and developing a support process using the technical and economic criteria along with the business models. The data and information have been collected using literature study and semi-structured interviews. Through the market study, it was found that Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) is the most industry ready AM technology due to its high processing speed, material compatibility, high strength and mechanical properties and the non - requirement of support structures. The commonly used AM materials are Nylon PA 11 and PA 12, ABS, PLA, Aluminium, Titanium and Stainless Steel. The cost factors driving AM adoption in spare parts were found to be machine, materials, post – processing, labour and energy. The challenges to AM adoption were found to be technology awareness, intellectual property (IP) issues, costs and return on investment (ROI), strength and physical properties of AM produced parts. Following the market study, the criteria identified for selecting spare parts to be AM produced are increased responsiveness, minimized supply disruption, cost optimization, part complexity and sustainability. Furthermore, to select spare parts for AM, multi-criteria decision-making Tools (MCDM) such as AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluation) have been used and validated. To print the spare parts, four business models have been described in the thesis, using the make-to-stock, make-to-order and engineer-to-order approaches. The study limitations, recommendations, discussions and implications have been enclosed in the master thesis.","Additive Manufacturing; 3D printing; Spare parts","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b5bd507b-b5df-4ae5-b890-b4445415be47","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b5bd507b-b5df-4ae5-b890-b4445415be47","An exploratory study examining the role of personality traits on individual ambidexterity","Tumkur Venkatesh, Aishwarya (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The study aims to add to the existing knowledge base on individual ambidexterity by adopting a trait-based approach. As this area of individual ambidexterity is still comparatively new, limited study has been undertaken on the internal factors that determine individual ambidexterity. Further the study addresses the degree to which personality traits may influence ambidexterity in individuals. I investigate the influence of three personality traits on individual ambidexterity. The personality traits understudy are: Openness, conscientiousness and extraversion. For the purpose of this thesis, a mixed method approach was adopted, with semi-structured interviews and a survey. Results from the semi-structured interviews indicated internal factors that explain the link between personality traits and individual ambidexterity. For the quantitative study, a survey was conducted with a sample of 116 employees, working in the coffee sector in the Netherlands. This research examined the mediating roles of self efficacy, team player, and affective commitment, on the relationship between personality traits and individual ambidexterity. Results of this thesis showed that openness to new experiences, conscientiousness and extraversion positively relate to individual ambidexterity, and as a result, revealed that internal factors can be used to determine individual ambidexterity. Next to these findings, self efficacy mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and individual ambidexterity, and team player mediates the relationship between extraversion and individual ambidexterity. Contrary to our expectations, affective commitment did not mediate the relationship between openness to experience and individual ambidexterity. The findings of this thesis provide recommendations for future study and add to our definition of the construct of individual ambidexterity, which is useful in both theoretical and practical aspects.","Individual ambidexterity; Personality traits; Affective commitment; Self efficacy; Team player; Exploration; Exploitation; mixed methods","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c04b19e9-ae9e-4b55-886a-d8a4f96e4ff0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c04b19e9-ae9e-4b55-886a-d8a4f96e4ff0","Cloud Migration and Security: Case Study of Rabobank","Purwar, Anshita (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Gürses, F.S. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Arntzen, Oka (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Cloud computing is one of the state-of-the-art technologies that has led to considerable transformations in an organization. Because of its numerous benefits like scalability, cost-efficiency, and security many organizations are migrating to the cloud. However, the process of migration is complex and faces numerous challenges. This includes numerous technical and non-technical challenges that impact the security of the organization. This study revealed a considerable research gap in the literature using the people, process and technology framework. The gap revealed that researchers and organizations focus mainly on technical challenges and weigh in the security risks triggered by them. The non-technical challenges like lack of resources, knowledge sharing, limited stakeholder management are overlooked. This study showed that these issues could also cause security risks like data loss, vulnerable systems, and unauthorized access to systems and data in the migration process. Therefore, the concept was designed by prioritizing the requirements from these non-technical challenges. Four essential features were discussed as a part of the solution: knowledge base, information centre, planning & stakeholder management, and learning. The suggested concept was evaluated and showed that organizations need to enable knowledge sharing, open feedback and stakeholder management in the initial phase of migration to mitigate security risks from the beginning.","Cloud Computing; Cloud migration; security; Security risks; tool","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2022-08-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ce0e5892-fb79-4622-a627-502edb6ee32d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ce0e5892-fb79-4622-a627-502edb6ee32d","Intrapreneurship: Pre-Seed Selection Criteria for Internal Corporate Accelerators","Gerlofs, Niels (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Visser, Alexander (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Most research is done in the field of External Corporate Accelerators (ECA), where external ideas from students, start-ups e.g., enter the accelerator program of a corporate. Limited research is done in the field of Internal Corporate Accelerator (ICA) where ideas from their own employees can enter the accelerator program. Additionally, accelerators are mostly implemented in highly competitive environments. However, accelerator programs are used more and more in less competitive environments like government-owned liability companies because external pressure requires them to change their ways of working more rapidly. This research addresses this gap by studying an accelerator program of the government-owned liability company TenneT TSO that operates in the energy utility sector. TenneT wants to innovate its core business and ways of working with the TenneT POWERLab, which is an ICA where employees can enter the acceleration program. The main goal of the program is to create an ecosystem that enables cultural and creative change within the organization. Hence, the tool ICA in this context is not used to get a competitive advantage by innovation as for most applications that are described in the literature. The research objective is to develop pre-seed selection criteria for Internal Corporate Accelerators (ICAs) of government-owned liability companies. A conceptual framework with pre-seed selection criteria is made from the accelerator literature and startup literature. Additionally, the research introduced three new pre-seed selection criteria that should be included in the research in the context of ICAs of government-owned liability companies, like the POWERLab. These are “Strategic Fit”, “Investment Cost”, and “Validation efforts”. This resulted in a list of 20 pre-seed selection criteria. Accordingly, the pre-seed selection criteria are studied on their relevance and compared to the literature. Findings are that 9 out of the 20 pre-seed selection criteria are not deemed relevant for TenneT TSO. Examples of not relevant criteria are “Sustainable Advantage”, “Timing of Entry” and “Lead Time”. This can be explained by the non-competitive nature of government-owned liability companies who follow market needs instead of being a frontrunner of innovation. Highly relevant criteria are “Incoming Team’s Willingness to Listen & Adapt”, “Idea Solves a Real Problem” and “Investment Cost”. These pre-seed selection criteria indicate the importance of the team and the quality of the idea to solve real problems in the organization, leading to the innovation of the core business. Implications of this research are that ECAs in competitive environments have similarities with ICAs in government-owned liability companies. Both ECAs and ICAs have an accelerator with stage-gates and focus on mentorship. Minor differences are in the duration and intensity of the programs. The pre-seed selection criteria can be used as a starting point for other government-owned liability companies in the energy sector that want to proceed with an ICA that boosts employee development and organizational efficiency to cope with new challenges like renewables. However, future research should determine if ICAs are a good tool for government-owned liability companies to innovate their core business.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:06885ff5-bc5f-4f52-b329-e0f5f51e79dd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:06885ff5-bc5f-4f52-b329-e0f5f51e79dd","Localization of Medical Device Manufacturing in Low- and Middle-Income countries: A study to develop key drivers and inhibitors to shifting manufacturing and assembly of medical devices in Low and Middle income countries","Jitin Gopakumar, Jitin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (mentor); Verbraeck, A. (graduation committee); Hinrichs-Krapels, S. (graduation committee); Geerts, Florent (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The research was conducted looking into the possibilities of local manufacturing and assembly of medical devices in low and middle-income countries. Desktop research and expert interviews were conducted to learn the operations of medical devices (and other product) manufacturers. The interview process validated the literature study and also brought to light some new information on how medical device manufacturing (both local and international) operates. The research resulted in key drivers and inhibitors that companies need to consider when shifting their operations (or not) to low and middle-income countries.","Global Value Chain; Local Production; Medical Devices; Localization; Manufacturing; assembly; Health Tech; low and middle income countries; Developing countries","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9bcab5da-5772-46ab-9e1c-e2b90c37e566","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9bcab5da-5772-46ab-9e1c-e2b90c37e566","Digital Transformation of SMEs in Indonesia: A capacity approach for SMEs’ digital transformation","Rena Adriana, Rena (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Kroesen, J.O. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","SMEs are in the midst of a digital economy driven by the rapid growth of technologies, pushing them to change or be excluded from the system. Compounded by the COVID-19 outbreak, SMEs are required to catch up with the transition quickly. Governments and policymakers have previously conceived numerous policies to support SMEs' digital transformation in most countries. Nevertheless, in Indonesia, these efforts are dominated by digital literacy development programs while paying little attention to the holistic entrepreneurial capacity. Whereas only as a part of a comprehensive approach digital literacy can be developed. As SMEs are part of a system, the holistic entrepreneurial capacity should encompass internal and external capacity, from SMEs' capacity as an entity, the availability of enabling environment, and the synergy. This research attempted to solve the research question: ""How to raise the SMEs' capacity in Indonesia to perform digital transformation?"". The proposition was studied by carrying a multiple embedded case study of Indonesian SMEs to determine the existing capacity, barriers and ultimately answer the research question. The case study includes 18 SMEs with different business scales assorted into three categories according to the entrepreneurial capacity and digital literacy level. Data collection in this case study combined semi-structured interviews and observations. Additionally, three inclusive case descriptions are presented to illustrate the profile of targeted companies in the Government's digital transformation agenda. Furthermore, cases were cross-analyzed to reveal their capacities based on the value and institutional context of each company, and also the relation to its digital transformation phase. Meanwhile, data about the current landscape and the interaction with SMEs are collected from a literature review and interviews with four experts from Kemenkop, Bank Indonesia, and eCommerce. The empirical results reveal that Indonesia's current landscape is shifting within traditional and more modern practices. Numerous policies, regulations, development programs, and financial supports exist to boost SMEs' digital transformation. However, there are manifold barriers at this level. There is a solid patrimonial system and bureaucracy in a decentralized Government system, compounded by a sectoral ego that creates disintegration and hampers coordination. In addition, the lack of arrangement and regulations enforcement due to the Government's limited capacity generates suboptimal outputs. Next, lack of capacity is the central barrier to digital transformation at the SME level. However, the empirical evidence showed that this issue is beyond the lack of knowledge and skills in technology utilization. Hence, capacity building should not only concentrate on improving digital literacy but also the overall SMEs’ capacity. Another noteworthy finding is that some SMEs with high capacity prefer to stay out of the systems and refuse to take digital transformation due to weak regulations enforcement from authorities and lack of incentives. On the other hand, SMEs utilizing digital technology both in transition business model and digital business model obtain several benefits from their participation. First, they enjoy the broader market and network up to national also international markets. Such a network will also lead to cost savings and access to funding. Next, they can have better engagement with customers that contribute to their innovation capacity. Then, combining the broader market, network, and customer interaction enables SMEs to create demand-based innovation, leading to the better product value. Participating in the digital platform and the motivation for business escalation also affect the SMEs' compliance level. As they try to develop the business and increase the product value, they will register their business and strive to obtain relevant certifications. Ultimately, with intensive assistance and consecutive improvements, the company's overall performance would be enhanced, and in turn, this will promote business sustainability. This study confirms that SMEs' digital transformation requires comprehensive knowledge and skills, a supporting mindset, and enabling environment. Therefore, we propose a comprehensive SMEs development program for the Indonesian Government, namely SCALE-UP: SMEs Capacity Development and Upgrading Program. This program is a top-down approach for the Government and relevant authorities that focus on providing appropriate capacity building for SMEs according to their needs reflected on capacity assessment output. So, the capacity development between SMEs might vary. The traditional enterprises with a lack of capacity in most aspects will get different development plans than the SMEs with higher entrepreneurial capacity but lack digital literacy, as they need a more entrepreneurial mindset and attitude. This capacity development should be followed by intensive assistance and collaboration with civil society. Eventually, regular evaluation and more vigorous enforcement are essential to monitor progress and anticipate obstacles. Nevertheless, this development program requires more transparency, cooperation, and compliance within Government institutions. To deal with the sectoral ego, a dedicated working group for SMEs development consisting of the Government and relevant authorities is required. In addition, the Ministry of SMEs and Cooperative, as the SMEs authority, can build a showcase of progressive SMEs that is accessible for investors, financial institutions, NGOs, and relevant stakeholders. This showcase can be an incentive to encourage SMEs to take digital transformation and participate in the formal economy voluntarily.","Entrepreneur Capacity; Capacity Approach; Digital Transformation; SMEs Development; SMEs in Developing Country","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c617b1e1-1c60-4559-a17b-07072a0399e3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c617b1e1-1c60-4559-a17b-07072a0399e3","A Technology Adoption Model in the Dutch Energy sector: The case of Digital Twins","Durani, Abhinav (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Wagner, Ben (mentor); Brazier, F.M. (mentor); Huang, Yilin (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Emerging technologies are revolutionizing organizational growth, productivity and in- vestments more than ever before. One such technology that has come into the limelight in the past few years is the Digital Twin. The so-called ’digital twin’ is a real-time virtual replica (representation) of any given physical asset/object. The full-potential of a digital twin lies in its ability to not only communicate with the physical asset, but also control it remotely. Although the concept of digital twins is more than a decade old, digital twin initiatives are now been deployed in the manufacturing, automotive and healthcare industries among others. One such industry, experimenting with digital twins is the Energy sector. The objective of this research was to perform an exploratory investigation into the adoption of Digital Twins in the Dutch Energy sector predominately by Trans- mission System Operators (TSOs) and Distribution System Operators (DSOs). The investigation comprised of four elements: establishing the most fitting technology adoption model when it comes to digital twins, determining the relevant adoption variables, exploring the perception of digital twins in the industry and investigating the relationship between absorptive capacity and organizational characteristics. The research method deployed for the former two elements was desk research, whereas the latter elements were probed by conducting (semi-structured) interviews and targeted questionnaires respectively. There were a total of nine participants involved in this research which included technology adoption decision-makers having a wide range of work experience (1-5 years to 20+ years) from the five of the eight TSO/DSOs of the Netherlands.
The research found that the most fitting technology adoption model when it comes to digital twins in the Dutch energy sector was the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) Framework with the following relevant (non-exhaustive) adoption variables: Complexity, Compatibility, Perception, Technological Characteristics, Availability, Organizational culture, Organizational size, Budget size, Incentives, Management support, Ab- sorptive capacity, (decision-maker’s) Demographics, Attitude towards technology, Regulations, Competitive pressure and Network effects. In addition, the overall perception of digital twins was found to be positive across the Dutch Energy sector, however, there was no consistent relationship established between organizational characteristics and the levels of digital twin perception. Similarly, the research suggested that organizational characteristics and absorptive capacity were not correlated. Nonetheless given the limitations of having a low number of study participants and the potential of bias amongst respondents towards their employer, the strength (significance) of these discovered relationships are indicative and should be further investigated in future research prior to making any additional claims that are conclusive.","Digital Twins; Technology Adoption; energy sector; Emerging technologies","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3f8fb691-e2d5-4649-8ba1-2f6eb50c3ae9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3f8fb691-e2d5-4649-8ba1-2f6eb50c3ae9","Eco-innovations on Chemelot: A technology battle between the future and the past","Sliwinski, Max (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Stikkelman, R.M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The Dutch economy is at present largely driven by fossil fuels, including the chemical industry. To achieve the goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement, the industry needs to decarbonise by switching to renewable sources. However, the industry faces many barriers in this climate transition. This research analyses the Dutch chemical site Chemelot, one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands. Chemelot uses primarily natural gas and naphtha as energy and feedstock resources. Currently, a debate is ongoing on Chemelot whether electricity or hydrogen should be the main focus of replacing fossil fuels and raw materials, as these are the most potential ecoinnovation alternatives. These ecoinnovations pose a technology battle for dominance. The site users on Chemelot need to make decisions now, which will have consequences for both society and firms in the future. There are multiple types of factors that affect ecoinnovation adoption. This study created a new framework that distinguishes Technological factors from Nontechnological factors because it is desir able to gain early insight in both: Technological factors so that the decision can be based on what benefits best for the future industry and society; Nontechnological factors to identify barriers and op portunities in time and how to deal with these. The Nontechnological factors are distinguished between External and Internal factors, with External factors reflecting the environment in which a firm operates and Internal factors considering firmspecific characteristics. The objective of this study is therefore to identify relevant factors that affect the adoption of ecoinnovations with the ultimate goal of decarbon ising the Chemelot site. Hence, this research aims at answering the following research question: What drives the technology battle for ecoinnovation adoption on Chemelot? This exploratory and descriptive research investigated Chemelot as the main unit of analysis. It is a single and embedded case study design. This research started by reviewing the literature regarding the topics of technology battles, technology dominance, adoption, barriers in the chemical industry, and ecoinnovations. Based on the literature review, a framework was made containing factors that affect ecoinnovation adoption. Additionally, factors were added to the framework based on conversations with experts. The framework was then validated by interviewing experts and conducting a BestWorst Method analysis. The BestWorst Method is a suitable MultiCriteria DecisionMaking tool when eval uating multiple factors when objective metrics are lacking. Experts were asked to indicate the factors according to relevance with regard to ecoinnovation adoption in the chemical industry. Additionally, the weights indicated by the participants were normalised using the BestWorst Method to compare the factors. In total, 14 participants participated in the semistructured interviews with questions to gain deeper knowledge about the technology battle between ecoinnovations on Chemelot. The site users on Chemelot have to make decisions for ecoinnovations now, which will have con sequences for future society and industry. Since the consequences of the ecoinnovation choices are influenced by both Technological and Nontechnological factors, this research created a new frame work of factors affecting ecoinnovation adoption. This research found that the subfactor Regulatory Pressure is the most relevant in the set of Nontechnological External factors. In the Nontechnological Internal factors, Firm’s Strategy is found to be the most relevant subfactor, closely followed by Firm’s Management. In the set of Technological factors, the subfactor Capex is found to be the most relevant factor. The normalised weights of all the factors show that the Nontechnological External factors are the most relevant factors for ecoinnovation adoption for the Chemelot site. Furthermore, the Techno logical factors appear to be equally relevant as Nontechnological Internal factors because they hardly rank higher. The results from the conducted interviews show that experts define a successful energy & raw ma terial transition when the environmental impact of greenhouse gasses is reduced while simultaneously maintaining employment, innovation, economic welfare, and adding value to society. The barriers the site users face on Chemelot to reduce environmental impact are: crosssectoral collaboration among actors, sufficient availability of renewable energy and raw materials, lack of effective policy, high degree of integrated plants and processes, differently aligned strategies of the site users compared to Chemelot’s, increasing pressure by lobbies and society, a failing market always that proposes fossil technologies as the cheapest option rather than providing sustainable ecoinnovation alternatives mak ing investment difficult, and the lacking or insufficient infrastructure. The opportunity Chemelot has are: the high degree of integrated plants because they offer synergies, advanced R&D facilities, the innova tion and knowledge centre Brightlands Chemelot Campus, and highly experienced and knowledgeable experts. The technology battle between ecoinnovations on Chemelot is twofold. For the heatgenerating application, the technology battle is fought between hydrogen and electricity. The direct use of elec tricity is much more efficient for this application, because energy losses during the initial conversion of electricity to hydrogen are avoided and because no flue gases are released that contain energy when generating heat from electricity. Nevertheless, hydrogen technology for this application is being pushed by the actors, despite the fact that it is a less favourable alternative. This could have serious consequences for Chemelot since this is a much more expensive alternative. Furthermore, this research concluded that the technology battle for dominance is fought between the incumbent technologies and ecoinnovations rather than between hydrogen and electrification. Both electrification and hydrogen are indispensable technologies required in this climate transition but will depend on the application. Moreover, site users continue to maintain their fossil assets while this is expensive and greenhouse gas emissions reduction is limited. They are reluctant to switch to disruptive ecoinnovations because of the aforementioned barriers. Continuing the investments, in turn, raises the barrier for the site users to adopt ecoinnovations due to the longer payback periods. Delaying the adoption of ecoinnovation can be explained by the lack of a positive business case. The business case is reflected by the Technological factors Capex, Opex, and Efficiency, and is in dicated as a prerequisite. This affects the intrinsic motivation of the site users, which is reflected by the Nontechnological Internal factors. However, site users are motivated by external pressures such as regulations, subsidies, market pressures, and rising emission taxes, which are reflected by Non technological External factors.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4833d1b1-3ea0-4e35-bf78-aed852c0a568","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4833d1b1-3ea0-4e35-bf78-aed852c0a568","The Role of Collaborative HRM on Open Innovation Culture and Open Innovation Performance","Bhandari, Trishla (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (graduation committee); Pachos-Fokialis, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Open innovation is a collective bidirectional flow of knowledge and capabilities across organizations. Open innovation aims to build mutually beneficial relationships among corporate that can lead to competitive advantage. The market benefits by getting new and improved products faster, and the organization benefits financially and gains brand recognition. Although open innovation has its benefits, it comes with many challenges, the first being the organizations' readiness towards engaging in open innovation. Humans are the essential resource for open innovation in an organization. If organizations want to be successful in their open innovation objective, they need to manage human resources strategically. Open innovation has significant challenges; using strategic human resource management, organizations can navigate the challenges and benefit from open innovation. This paper has identified a relationship between collaborative human resource management practices and open innovation. HR focuses on strengthening the employees, teams and managers capability towards open innovation. HR promotes a change in leadership, culture, and engages in employee skill development. HRM has less to do with management making decisions to engage in partnerships but rather focuses on creating an open innovation mindset in the managers and promotes open innovation in the organisation. The paper has done a multi level analysis and found that HRM can promote a cultural change towards open innovation, affecting employees', teams and managers abilities and decision-making towards facilitating open innovation. To develop a culture of open innovation, open innovation must be addressed in the organization mission and vision. This will create a collective sense of purpose within employees and management. HR can further organize collaborative HRM (CHRM) practices that can develop unique skills and capabilities required for open innovation. Moreover, CHRM practices have been found to affect the management mindset towards open innovation and improving their leadership, knowledge sharing and risk-taking abilities - making them open to the idea of engaging in partnerships. CHRM practices affect the skills of the employees; together, they can affect the ways employees source and share knowledge from within and outside the organisation and help them create an open mindset. It can also help them learn how to build mutually beneficial and long-lasting relationships. There is a strong focus on teamwork based abilities and skills, which affect open innovation culture. Collaboration is a significant behavioural attribute for open innovation. These skills correspond to improved knowledge and skill sharing, sourcing and relationship building as well. The thesis has identified effective practices that can develop the skills and capabilities of employees and shift the organizations focus towards open innovation by moving towards a cultural change. Cultural change can be achieved by addressing the communication and relationships between employees and management. Open communication of the success and failures of partnerships need to be addressed. Sharing these stories will encourage employees to also engage in such activities. A framework to measure the open innovation performance of an organization has been proposed. A set of qualitative and quantitative indicators has been identified to help organizations measure their open innovation outcome. The study identifies that to CHRM practices can develop the capabilities of employees in an organisation and achieve a cultural change towards open innovation . Open innovation affects individuals and teams and can lead to elevated levels of open innovation performance which can be measured.","Collaborative Human Resource Management, Open Innovation Culture, Open Innovation Performance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:46186308-6017-43fd-a4cb-e5967104b53d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:46186308-6017-43fd-a4cb-e5967104b53d","Exploring the Relationship Between Linguistics, Paralinguistics, Personality & Depression","Nikita Belliappa, Nikita (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Lefter, I. (graduation committee); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders affecting people from different age groups, societies, communities, and countries. Many countries lack awareness about psychological disorders and there is a scarcity of good mental healthcare facilities available globally. Medical practitioners recognise depression by analysing the patient’s behavioural patterns like speech levels, facial expression, body language and language patterns during therapy. Previous research has shown that behavioural studies are effective means for depression recognition. To explore this relationship, the automated depression recognition dataset called Distress Analysis Interview Corpus (DAIC) was evaluated. This dataset was chosen as it consists of paralinguistic (vocal), linguistic (verbal/text) and extralinguistic (visual) features from the dyadic interviews between participants and a virtual human. Prior research has evaluated the relationship between paralinguistics, linguistics and depression but many researchers failed to analyse the relationship between personality and depression for the DAIC database. The present study explores how different paralinguistic and linguistic features and personality types differentiate between high and low levels of depression. This study was exploratory in nature and used the LIWC software for linguistic and personality analysis, Pandas software for pre-processing the audio and text data files and lastly correlational analysis using JASP software to answer the research questions. The main findings concluded that linguistic features like emotion (sad and negative), feeling and health related words are used most often by depressed people. Additionally, paralinguistic features like high pitch and breathy voice as well as the personality trait neuroticism were characteristic identifiers of depressed people. These results showed that linguistics, paralinguistics, and personality traits help in depression recognition. These research findings have the scope for broader and cross-disciplinary applications in the future. Further research and development for automated detection technologies is required in the field of behavioural studies, to enable people globally to easily access and use artificial healthcare platforms for mental health diagnosis.","Depression; Personality; Linguistic; Paralinguistic; Correlation Analysis","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:eb4bddc0-41cc-4154-99f0-fd318f08bf4b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:eb4bddc0-41cc-4154-99f0-fd318f08bf4b","Developing a Framework for the Deployment of Crowd-Shipping: A Study in the Netherlands","Rajwade, Sameer (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Fazi, S. (mentor); Khodaei, H. (graduation committee); Rezaei, J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The growth in the e-commerce platforms and online shopping has been increasing exponentially in the last decade. Businesses and logistics companies are finding new ways to ensure fast, sustainable, and safe deliveries to customers through existing means. However, to meet the ever increasing demand of deliveries, innovative shipping or delivery alternatives have been on the rise across the world. Crowd-Shipping is one such concept which aims at taking advantage of regular travellers with unused space and additional time who can pick up packages, in order to deliver packages to customers who lie along or near the same route for a small compensation. Since the Netherlands has witnesses massive e-commerce growth and demand for efficient and fast deliveries, this study aimed at how Crowd-Shipping can potentially be implemented in the Netherlands through considering a set of drivers, barriers and a business model innovation perspective. The study first investigates the existing research on the concept, focusing on the drivers, barriers and business model aspects. In order to explore these findings and potentially more or findings, we conducted the methodology which consisted of interviews and surveys. Post the interviews and surveys, a thorough analysis of the findings was conducted through content analysis, descriptive statistics and correlations. The results from the research indicate the importance of the findings from the literature with respect to existing drivers, barriers and business model perspectives while also providing insight into more drivers, barriers and business model perspectives that need to be considered for Crowd-Shipping deployment. These results are discussed in detail providing in-depth insight on the Crowd-Shipping aspects mentioned. We conclude the research by suggesting how Crowd-Shipping can be implemented in the Netherlands considering these drivers, barriers and business model aspects, following which, further research recommendations are provided.","Crowd-Shipping; Business Model Innovation; Business Model; Mixed Methods; E-Commerce; Logistics","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:56899a58-827d-4f7d-a8bd-d92501a38f4f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:56899a58-827d-4f7d-a8bd-d92501a38f4f","Corporate social responsibility in the Indian footwear industry: Exploring the managerial perception on CSR and its effect on company’s performance","Divyanshu, Divyanshu (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","In today's fast-paced corporate climate, Corporate Social Responsibility as a theme has become critical. One of the major obligation of any business is it’s contribution towards economic sustainability. The notion of corporate social responsibility is a very age-old practice. With the passage of time, CSR has seen shifts in corporate practices from philanthropy to public-private people partnerships. In India too, some of the corporate houses have gone beyond the prerequisites of corporate governance in terms of investments and social initiatives to benefit a large chunk of deprived, vulnerable, poor and backward population and areas either directly or indirectly. While corporate governance aims to promote corporate responsibility, justice, and openness; social investments by corporations have helped to strengthen their overall brand image and business performance. A significant number of major corporations have established Trusts and Development Foundations to launch CSR initiatives. With the government's concentration on the manufacturing sector, the footwear industry's future potential seems bright, especially for established and organized firms. CSR has now been extended to the Indian Footwear industry as well. This sector was never considered in discussions, and the traditional approach to CSR is generally presumed to be the responsibility of other sectors and big companies. As a result, not a lot of research is done about the current CSR initiatives in the footwear industry. Since, the Indian footwear industry mostly comprises of small and medium enterprises, it has been difficult to find company’s financial statements or records to come to any conclusion. The companies face survival challenges, they have time and resource limitations, there is a lack of systematic incentives which makes it even harder for these footwear companies to enroll in CSR activities. Many Indian footwear firms are in the process of establishing themselves and do not have the staff or resources to address CSR concerns, therefore they prefer to neglect them, according to literature study. There has been very little research into whether CSR involvement benefits the Indian footwear industry, which is primarily made up of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). As a result, it is critical to comprehend the impact of implementing and supporting CSR practices in India's footwear sector.","CSR; Indian footwear industry; Corporate social responsibility; Small and Medium enterprises; CSR benefits","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2d54d7d1-0986-4327-a7e8-798e4f4bf25d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2d54d7d1-0986-4327-a7e8-798e4f4bf25d","The Impact of Sales Forecasting Management on Business Performance: A Case Study at Palo Alto Networks","MOORTHY, UTHRA (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Lukszo, Z. (graduation committee); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Pfenninger, S. (graduation committee); Champassak, Malysa Na (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Sales are the backbone for a company, sales forecasting plays an important role in organizational decision-making, and improving the sales forecasting performance has been an intention for managers. Sales forecasting is a management function that is affected by various organizational factors. The aim of this research is to validate a Sales Forecasting Management (SFM) framework to improve the sales forecasting performance in a high-tech industry and study the impact of forecasting on the organization’s business performance. The organizational factors such as sales compensation structure, product life-cycle stage of the company, information logistics, and cross-functional communication of the SFM framework are validated in the context of the high-tech industry. Further, the framework is quantified by developing an appropriate sales forecasting model. Both quantitative and qualitative forecasting methods are studied and the most appropriate technique with high accuracy is chosen. Finally, the effect of sales forecasting performance on a specific business outcome – End of Service Benefits (EOSB) is quantitatively measured. The EOSB is the gratuity payment received by the employees of the company when they are terminated or resigning from the job. It is a crucial operational expenditure that is proportional to the salaries earned by the sales employees and the accuracy in EOSB forecasts has an impact on the company’s stock price and investment decisions. The results of the research show that the accuracy in sales forecasts has a significant impact on the End of Service Benefits forecast. The research also finds that the SFM framework has to be adjusted to include the sales pipeline stages as an important organizational factor that influences sales forecasting management. Thus, the thesis provides an interesting insight to include the sales pipeline stages in the framework to improve the sales forecasting credibility. Finally, the SFM framework is evaluated, the impact of sales forecasting performance on a business outcome (EOSB) is quantitatively measured using a sales forecasting simulation model and the conclusions are derived.","Sales Forecasting Management; Framework; Forecasting model; End of Service Benefits; High-Tech Industry; Organizational factors; Cross-functional communication; Information Logistics; Sales Compensation Structure","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6342959d-5320-4c94-aad5-bde0d3b00010","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6342959d-5320-4c94-aad5-bde0d3b00010","Predicting the upcoming start of large-scale diffusion of radically new high-tech innovations","Schmidt, Florian (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","class=""MsoNormal"">
Knowing the time point of large-scale diffusion of a radically new high-tech innovation is a highly relevant topic. Companies, researchers, and government institutions can plan their research and development efforts, production, as well as marketing plans according to the predicted time point of large-scale diffusion. The research is based upon the assumption that specific indicators can predict the start of large-scale diffusion. The scientific field of forecasting the start of large-scale diffusion is relatively new. Therefore, an explorative methodology was required for this research. During the explorative process, it was ensured that indicators reflect on the holistic environment of an innovation by minding the so-called data collection cube. A data selection funnel was created, narrowing scientific branches down to a list of indicators in three steps. Each of these steps has its own criteria designed to: • Select scientific branches with the highest potential to find results in the literature reviews • Derive indicators that can observe the diffusion • Select indicators that can predict the start of large-scale diffusion The last step of the data selection funnel, selecting the indicators which can actually predict, was carried out with the support of three researchers. Eight criteria were used to select the most potential indicators: (i) Prediction, (ii) Timeliness of prediction, (iii) Availability of data, (iv) Cost of data, (v) Quantifiable& Objectivity, (vi) Empirical proof, (vii) Generalizability, (viii)Simplicity. The researchers were asked to evaluate the indicators according to the criteria (i) and (vi) as part of the scientific quality gate selecting the most potential indicators. After the indicators have been evaluated, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to improve the robustness of the selection mechanisms and to rule out an arbitrary selection of the indicators. Out of 50 indicators found in the literature or derived from the literature, 38 indicators were selected according to the selection mechanism. These 38 indicators have been split into two sets of judgemental and non-judgemental indicators to prepare the design of the forecasting approach. The forecasting approach aims to guide a user towards the correct forecasting technique given an innovation and situation. Five forecasting techniques were found to befitting the: (i) assumptions-based modelling, (ii) Delphi method, (iii)analogous forecasting, (iv) time series & regression models, and (v)artificial neural networks. However, each of the five forecasting techniques have disadvantages that can be overcome by one of the other methods. Hence, the forecasting approach has two stages. First, the user is guided towards the primary method and subsequently towards an additional method overcoming the disadvantages of the first method and improving the overall reliability of the forecast. For each method, a set of indicators is recommended. Once the forecasting approach has been developed, the completeness of indicators has been checked by using Ortt & Kamp’s 14 factors influencing the pre-diffusion phase. Additionally, four validation interviews applying the research on green hydrogen have been performed to let external actors reflect. These validation interviews formed the practical quality gate forging a bridge to the earlier mentioned scientific quality gate.
Knowing the time point of large-scale diffusion of a radically new high-tech innovation is a highly relevant topic. Companies, researchers, and government institutions can plan their research and development efforts, production, as well as marketing plans according to the predicted time point of large-scale diffusion.
The research is based upon the assumption that specific indicators can predict the start of large-scale diffusion. The scientific field of forecasting the start of large-scale diffusion is relatively new. Therefore, an explorative methodology was required for this research. During the explorative process, it was ensured that indicators reflect on the holistic environment of an innovation by minding the so-called data collection cube.
A data selection funnel was created, narrowing scientific branches down to a list of indicators in three steps. Each of these steps has its own criteria designed to:
• Select scientific branches with the highest potential to find results in the literature reviews
• Derive indicators that can observe the diffusion
• Select indicators that can predict the start of large-scale diffusion The last step of the data selection funnel, selecting the indicators which can actually predict, was carried out with the support of three researchers. Eight criteria were used to select the most potential indicators: (i) Prediction, (ii) Timeliness of prediction, (iii) Availability of data, (iv) Cost of data, (v) Quantifiable& Objectivity, (vi) Empirical proof, (vii) Generalizability, (viii)Simplicity. The researchers were asked to evaluate the indicators according to the criteria (i) and (vi) as part of the scientific quality gate selecting the most potential indicators. After the indicators have been evaluated, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to improve the robustness of the selection mechanisms and to rule out an arbitrary selection of the indicators. Out of 50 indicators found in the literature or derived from the literature, 38 indicators were selected according to the selection mechanism. These 38 indicators have been split into two sets of judgemental and non-judgemental indicators to prepare the design of the forecasting approach. The forecasting approach aims to guide a user towards the correct forecasting technique given an innovation and situation. Five forecasting techniques were found to befitting the: (i) assumptions-based modelling, (ii) Delphi method, (iii)analogous forecasting, (iv) time series & regression models, and (v)artificial neural networks. However, each of the five forecasting techniques have disadvantages that can be overcome by one of the other methods. Hence, the forecasting approach has two stages. First, the user is guided towards the primary method and subsequently towards an additional method overcoming the disadvantages of the first method and improving the overall reliability of the forecast. For each method, a set of indicators is recommended. Once the forecasting approach has been developed, the completeness of indicators has been checked by using Ortt & Kamp’s 14 factors influencing the pre-diffusion phase. Additionally, four validation interviews applying the research on green hydrogen have been performed to let external actors reflect. These validation interviews formed the practical quality gate forging a bridge to the earlier mentioned scientific quality gate. ","diffusion; innovation; pre-diffusion phase; prediction; indicator; forecasting technique; green hydrogen","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2b093842-34a0-4ea8-a48d-11be8ad6c09d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2b093842-34a0-4ea8-a48d-11be8ad6c09d","Business Model Framework for Electric Vehicles in India","Shah, Viraj (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The thesis mainly focuses on the challenges faced by electric vehicles in India. To overcome this various business model adopted globally are studied and analyzed in detail. Finally the business framework that can be adopted by EVs to succeed in Indian market is developed.","Electric Vehicles; Business Model; Indian cities; Urban mobility; Sustainable Transportation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0d29258e-da29-46a9-a4cd-3339d3053454","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0d29258e-da29-46a9-a4cd-3339d3053454","Dear customer, critters are crawling through your precious files: Understanding real-world evidence of QSnatch clean-up results and user experiences after warnings from the ISP","Fukkink, Max (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Eeten, M.J.G. (mentor); Hernandez Ganan, C. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Turcios Rodriguez, E.R. (mentor); Teunissen, Raymond (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","As the IoT is widely deployed in people’s homes, adversaries are busy exploiting the vulnerabilities of these devices. One kind of such device is the NAS device made by the company QNAP. Unfortunately, these devices are prone to the QSnatch malware. Unlike previous malware such as Mirai has this nasty habit, it settles deeper into the machine. In this way, the malware gains reboot persistence. Therefore, we consider the malware as persistent IoT malware compared to the non-persistent IoT malware. This affects the clean-up of the virus, as changing the passwords and rebooting the device is not enough to remove the virus. As a result, other steps are needed to get rid of the virus. If we take a look at the NAS device market, we see that the manufacturers of these devices have little incentive to invest a lot in the security of the devices. It is then challenging for the customer to estimate which devices are secure and are mainly tempted by discounts and devices that can be configured quickly. Then, the ISP is the link in the process that, with the help of the non-profit organisation Shadow Server, can determine which of its customers may be infected with certain malware. Shadow Server uses servers to receive the malicious traffic and forwards the corresponding IP addresses to the ISP. The ISP then knows which customer is dealing with possible infection and can inform them. This also happens for the QSnatch malware. The ISP sends the infected customer a notification informing them about the infection and providing steps to clean their device. These steps are a simplified and Dutch-translated version of the steps provided by QNAP. From that moment on, it is up to the infected customer to take action. Previous research has made a tremendous effort in understanding the efforts of infected customers in remediating the issue and showed that various resources could be used by the ISP to improve the results of this process.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2022-08-24","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7d04d19a-53a8-43c0-9842-dc157182214c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7d04d19a-53a8-43c0-9842-dc157182214c","Chinese shadow banking – Scale, Risk and Regulation","Feng, Rui (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Kroesen, M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","After the U.S. financial crisis in 2008, shadow banking business in China has shown rapid development. Shadow banking refer to credit intermediary involving financial entities and financial activities outside the traditional banking regulatory system. The shadow banking system in western countries represented by the United States is mainly based on securitization and various types of financial derivatives. Different from the shadow banking system in Western countries, the shadow banking activities in China mainly revolve around commercial banks, so it can also be called commercial bank-centric shadow banking system. This master thesis first looks at the development history of Chinese shadowbanking system, identifying two different phases of Chinese shadow banking system development. Then an overall picture of how the Chinese shadow banking system is constituted is given, covering the main components within the shadow banking system. Further, this master thesis investigates the operation model of commercial bank-centric shadow banking system. As the two most important operation models, commercial bank wealth management business and interbank business are elaborated in this thesis. Besides, the main risks of the shadow banking business and the mechanisms of risk generation, transmission and amplification are also discussed. Based on the highly risky characteristics of shadow banking business, the current regulatory measures of Chinese financial regulators over the past 10 years are summarized and classified based on different regulation purposes. In addition to the above qualitative analysis, this thesis constructs a panel data set based on the annual report and financial report data of 146 listed commercial banks in China from 2010 to 2020, as well as the regulatory data in the past 10 years, and conducts an econometric empirical analysis to investigate the correlation between commercial banks’ shadow banking business scale, regulatory intensity and commercial banks’ default risk. The findings show that as the scale of commercial banks’ shadow banking business increases, the default risk of commercial banks increases; conversely, as the intensity of financial regulation increases, the default risk of commercial banks decreases accordingly. Finally, based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis results, this thesis provides feasible suggestions for future regulation of Chinese shadow banking system, while reflecting on the research methods applied in this paper and providing possible improvement points for further research.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b20bb5b9-f3b3-4078-947f-c13b9b6962da","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b20bb5b9-f3b3-4078-947f-c13b9b6962da","Intelligent transformation of Logistics hub with automated transportation by integrating Blockchain Technology","Sathiyendranath, Suraj Dharmasastha (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Duin, Ron (mentor); Veeneman, Wijnand (graduation committee); Piest, Sebastian (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The focus of this thesis is to introduce the application of blockchain to address the challenges associated with Port terminal operations. The research aims to investigate the interactions between different processes such as communication, planning, and transportation and associated challenges at a small-to-medium size logistics hub. Combi terminal Twente (CTT), situated at XL Business Park (Port of Twente) is considered as an ideal representative of such a small- to-medium size logistics hub, to carry out this research. To understand the intensity of changes that could be bought into the system when a disruptive technology like blockchain is implemented, different levels of digitalization is studied. The study also emphasizes identifying enabling technologies that can enhance the functions of blockchain applications and implementing automation. Furthermore, the study compares the current business process with an improved blockchain-based process by employing BPMN. The contribution made in the study can possibly help the researchers and the developers to introduce Proof of concepts and different business models. During the course of analysis, six main areas were identified where blockchain technology can be employed; secured communication to secure release reference number, container sorting, planning routes and congestion, trade documentation, certification & maintenance of the assets, and fleet management. the research contribution is as following; First, from a practical point of view, analysis facilitated the recognition of bottlenecks in the current inter-organizational processes, where the unloading process is studied and depicted in the report. Second, the proposed categorization of blockchain solutions may help understand the different uses of blockchain in Port terminal operations. Third, from a Business Process Management point of view, the improved business process extends the knowledge in BPMN, and the domain of blockchain-based information systems and the findings are validated through interviewing experts. The alternative solutions were considered to critically evaluate the technologies success rate. Also, the significance of the applications on the KPI's specific to terminal operations is investigated. Finally, based on the findings and the interview, a roadmap for future implementation is determined to develop proof-of-concept leveraging opportunities offered by blockchain in the future.","Blockchain Technology; Terminal operations; BPMN; Key Performance Indicators; Digitalization","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a066eef1-3d67-4682-b489-130ddf81d052","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a066eef1-3d67-4682-b489-130ddf81d052","Small Hydro Power in Indonesia: A Niche Development Analysis: A qualitative study to analyze the niche development using the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) with complementary insights from the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and business models","Tofan Azhar Hakim, Tofan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Quist, J.N. (mentor); Hoppe, T. (graduation committee); Setyowati, A.B. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","To reduce carbon emissions by 29% by 2030 and achieve the renewable energy target of 23% by 2025, Indonesia needs to utilize more renewable energy. Although Indonesia is endowed with many renewable energy resources such as hydro, solar, wind and biomass, renewable energy currently only accounts for 14.37% of the total power generation installed capacity (Directorate General of Electricity, 2021). Of these renewable energy sources, Indonesia has a large potential for small hydro power that can be developed, particularly for rural electrification. Around 19,385 MW of small hydro power potential lies across the Indonesian archipelago (ESDM, 2017). However, it has not been harnessed optimally where only 0.6% of the total potential contributes to the overall power plant installed capacity in Indonesia.
Small hydro power has been slowly developed in Indonesia, although it has been reintroduced since the 1990s. Therefore, it is necessary to study the development of small hydro power in Indonesia to gain insights into factors that have influenced the development, barriers, opportunities for broader adoption. This research takes a qualitative approach to analyze niche development using the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) with complementary insights from the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and business models. The main research addressed in this thesis: ""How has the small hydro power market niche developed in Indonesia, and how did business models facilitate the transition?"". A case study research approach is used to gain insights on niche development while studying business models implemented in West Java. The data collection method includes interviews with 12 informants representing different groups of actors in the small hydro power sector and secondary data analysis.
The results show that the small hydro power niche was initially developed through grants from international donors and development agencies. Landscape factors that influenced niche development include low electrification in rural areas, the Asian Financial Crisis 1998 and the climate change issue. Learning process in the niche resulted in several local turbine manufacturers, improve local people capability and network of actors.
Niche actors have implemented business models to overcome adoption barriers of small hydro power in Indonesia. The cooperative business model has emerged to overcome social barriers and build the capacity of the local community. Niche actors created the PPP business model to support grant schemes through a partnership with the private firm. Furthermore, the IPP business model has emerged as incremental improvement in the regime sociotechnical dimension that facilitates niche development. A more significant contribution of the small hydro power plant in the electricity sector is expected in the future. This thesis shows that the Indonesian policymakers need to use shielding concepts from the SNM framework to formulate policies and regulations that support niche development.","Small Hydro Power; Strategic Niche Management; Multi-Level Perspective; Business Model; Indonesia","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:45ed8ad9-9113-4ca0-9ee1-1a8575158d8f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:45ed8ad9-9113-4ca0-9ee1-1a8575158d8f","German automotive industry and frugal innovations in India","Sridharan, Bharath Kumar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Enserink, B. (graduation committee); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The German automotive industry is world renowned for its monopoly in the luxury car market. With a prominent global presence, they are well known for their technological superiority (design, engines etc.). However recent trends in the automotive industry have put their monopoly in jeopardy. Firstly, Tesla’s success in the market with e-vehicles presents a threat of substitution. The German automotive industry prides in its build and petrol and diesel powered engines. However , with developed countries moving towards sustainability, e-vehicles have gradually started pushing the German cars out of the market. Secondly, given the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, luxury cars aren’t a preferred investment. However the new concept of ‘frugal innovations’ still provides optimistic hopes during these troubled times. This involves targeting the growing middle class population in developing countries by developing cars that are just good enough to meet basic customer needs. India is a country with a promising buying potential. Well known automakers like Ford, Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata, have successfully innovated to serve this market. However for the German automotive industry, which has always targeted affluent customers, frugal innovations would be challenging internally and externally as it calls for a different mindset. Despite the increasing importance of frugal innovations, academic sources do not provide a country and industry specific strategy for a high-tech firm to switch to frugal innovations. Given this controversy, this research attempts to explore the scope for frugal innovations for the German automotive industry in India by answering the research question: What are the opportunities and threats concerning frugal innovations for the German automotive industry in India? Given the knowledge gap resulting from the lack of available sources, the research starts with the construction of a theoretical framework that would enable a firm to assess its current position in terms of frugal innovations. This framework represents a detailed overview of the internal and external factors including organisation, value chain, competitors, social, political and legal factors to name a few. This framework also forms the backbone of further research work to be embedded in. Additionally, it could also be used by a product based firm that wishes to transition to frugal innovations. The generic nature of this framework has been obtained from both strategic management and frugal innovation literature. The research makes use of the complementarity approach to identify the internal and external opportunities and threats available. The first approach has been a thorough study of the literature from different disciplines that would have the necessary answers. Secondly, the Fiat Palio is an example of a controversial frugal innovation in India by the Italian automaker Fiat. The story of Fiat in India revolves around its very high receptivity during its inception and its eventual downfall in a few years. Having enjoyed the status of an elite automaker, a second case study of Fiat Palio in India has been performed to identify the factors that could be of influence. Thirdly, the research features insights from around 8 academic and industry experts specialized in this area. The combined insights from the three approaches were embedded in the context of the evaluated literature. To assess a firm’s current position in the market environment and make business decisions, the SWOT analysis is one of the most widely used tools. As a consequence, the combined findings were reported in the form of a SWOT analysis. However, the SWOT has certain disadvantages in taking business decisions, in a highly competitive environment. As a consequence, a new and a modified approach to SWOT known as the evolutionary and correlative SWOT has been considered as the tool for analysis to identify the opportunities and threats. Using the evolutionary and correlative SWOT analysis qualitatively, the opportunities and threats have been identified into four categories: Real opportunities, where the internal strengths and external opportunities are in perfect synergy; Space of lost opportunities, wherein the organization has a vast potential to review itself internally to tap external opportunities; space of possible defense, wherein, the firms could use its internal strengths to combat threats; and Real threats, wherein the internal weaknesses and external threats are in perfect synergy. The main sources of opportunities for the German automotive industry is its strong technical skill set, presence of well established suppliers, superior brand name that could give them an edge in comparison to competitors. However, with competitors like Suzuki, Tata and Hyundai skilled in local market adaptation, mass production, meeting low cost pressures including inexpensive after sales service, pose a major competitive threat. The success of the German automotive industry lies in reviewing the firms and making internal changes and exploiting opportunities to combat this. Expanding production and service networks by forming alliances and partnerships provide a ray of hope to push further in this market. A total of 15 opportunities and threats collectively were identified that if dealt with effectively could result in the success of frugal innovations for the German automotive industry. The main contribution of this research includes the identification of a new market opportunity for the German automotive industry, with the various factors that could lead to its success and failure. Additionally, this research contributes to the academic literature by highlighting a few key limitations of the frugal innovations literature like their lack of focus on sales and service as one of the most important parameters in determining a firm’s success with frugal innovations. Secondly, the research builds on the work of Vlados (2019), by using evolutionary and correlative analysis as a tool to make strategic decisions. Lastly, given the lack of technological expertise and living conditions in India, this move from the German automotive industry to frugal innovations would be a major contributor to the country’s development. The research makes use of both a managerial and societal approach to identifying the factors that make it a good fit for the MOT curriculum.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f3cf2c34-2480-4886-920e-ecade52f8c04","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f3cf2c34-2480-4886-920e-ecade52f8c04","Baumol’s Model and Unbalanced Productivity Growth: Does Baumol’s disease exist in China in a time of robotisation and automation?","WANG, LUDAN (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Mouter, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","Baumol's unbalanced growth model predicts the tendency of aggregate productivity growth to slow down in the process of tertiarisation. This thesis studies the relationship between employment structural changes and aggregate productivity growth in the case of China. William Nordhaus’s (2008) testing methodology will be applied to the China Industrial Productivity (CIP) Database that follows the KLEMS principles. The results suggest that there is a significant sign of Baumol’s cost disease in China during 1987-2010. Moreover, with more and more workers tolerating lower pay in the stagnant sectors, aggregate demand growth in the market will slow down. Eventually, the unbalanced growth may lead to economic stagnation. Hence, it is necessary to intervene in income distribution through fiscal and monetary policies to make the workers in the stagnant industries benefit from the technological progress.","Baumol model; demand; Unbalanced Economic Growth","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7732ddf5-da62-4150-b628-74624f129b4c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7732ddf5-da62-4150-b628-74624f129b4c","Towards Value-Based Healthcare: Research to the design for an IT architecture to enable value-based healthcare in the Netherlands","de Jonge, Floor (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ding, Aaron Yi (mentor); Verbraeck, A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The sustainability of the Dutch healthcare system is under severe pressure with increasing expenditure, more demand for care and a shortage of healthcare professionals. In the current healthcare system, providers are rewarded for increasing volume, but not for adding value, which only exacerbates the situation. Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is a candidate framework to reform the current healthcare system into an outcome-based system. Information systems are essential for the implementation of VBHC to execute outcome and cost measurements and collaborate across the care cycle. A literature review shows that there is a knowledge gap in the scientific literature to the architectures and components for such value-enabling information systems. This thesis aims to fill that gap by identifying and designing the essential components for a value-enabling IT architecture for the Dutch healthcare system.
The Information Systems (IS) research framework of Hevner et al. (2004) is adopted to guide the research. The environmental analysis shows several deficiencies in the as-is architecture for VBHC including a lack of patient-centredness, inaccessible or unavailable data, and complex to extract and integrate data. Preliminary semi-structured interviews reveal that, besides IT barriers, there is a deeply rooted trust issue among stakeholders which hampers successful implementation of VBHC. It is found that trust is often related to transparency and can be managed. Increasing transparency in the healthcare architecture would allow for (i) continuous quality improvements, (ii) improved decision-making, (iii) positive financial stimulus and (iv) patient empowerment. The design activities aim to facilitate VBHC through integrating components that reduce or eliminate the IT barriers and increase transparency. Another round of semi-structured interviews is carried out to find the principles, requirements and components for the design. The overall design developed uses three types of environment: a Healthcare Information System (HIS) used by caregivers, a Personal Healthcare Environment (PHE) used by patients and a Quality Registration System, available to all stakeholders. The design and components are evaluated with an expert panel. The most essential components are: PHE, HIS, Quality Registry system, Clinical building blocks (Zibs), terminology standards, a data integration centre, logging and monitoring services, measurements and evaluations, auditing IT and care processes and an intermediary that stimulates improvement and collaboration. The expert panel reached a consensus that transparency in healthcare would contribute to solving some of the problems, but it will not solve the core problems that lie within the healthcare structure. There are several areas recommended for future research. First, the components should be evaluated with a broader expert panel to increase the validity. Second, the PHE is an essential component, but still in its infancy. It is recommended to further evaluate the utility for VBHC. Third, blockchain technology might enhance the design due to its inherent characteristics that offer transparency. Fourth, further research on the privacy-utility trade-off in the context of VBHC is recommended. Finally, interoperable systems rely on a shared and uniform language. It is recommended to research which standards have the highest potential to facilitate the architecture components.
This master thesis serves as a first insight into the justness of the European Union’s proposed Just Transition Fund. To do so, several projects of the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition are compared to the current setup of the fund. The data for the Just Transition Fund has been gathered in previous research while information on the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition was acquired with an exploratory desk research approach. The gathered data was structured coherently by the creation of two main categories, the project and contextual factors. Each was complemented with subcategories allowing allowed the comparison of the projects. Ultimately, these findings could be evaluated with a transition justice framework that has been adapted to the research needs.
It becomes clear that many injustice issues were present and often left unresolved in the assessed projects. Compared with the Just Transition Funds current criticism, many of these issues can be detected again. The most prominent justice issues found were of distributive nature due to scarce funding and a lack of stakeholder participation. The interplay of both problems leads to the desire to reach one goal: receiving as many funds as possible. As a result, the eligibility criteria seem to be seen as obstacles to overcome or boxes to tick leading to window dressing to meet imposed requirements. Implementing the same process kind for both programs is thus an inadequate path to take as the most critical justice issues stem from precisely this process.
The inadequacy of some criteria leads to the conclusion that the Just Transition Fund merges indicators of funding needs with requiring solutions to grand societal problems. The European Union needs to reassess the posed criteria on their ends and make the said challenges a priority to be addressed during the energy transition. Furthermore, it becomes evident that the application process can lead to injustice due to a lack of capacities and political capabilities of the regions in need.
With the current setup of the fund, transition justice can only increase to some extent. Still, there is potential for this program the first step is made towards a more holistic approach to coping with justice issues. The monetary aid, although insufficient now, can help the most affected if distributed and spend adequately. Besides, the fund serves as a symbol of solidarity with the most affected regions currently left behind. Policymaking is always a trial and error. Now, the identified shortcomings must be addressed to increase the fund’s impact.
The introduction of digital platforms has greatly affected different industries, for example enabling direct booking within the air travel business. Replacing paper documentation with an electronic equivalent can enable an increase in efficiency, through reduced administration costs and improved planning and operational capabilities. Efforts in introducing a digital platform within the shipping industry have been taking place using different governmental research efforts. However, as a possible additional effect, the digital platform may put reconfiguration of the network in motion. This reconfiguration enables certain actors to partake a bigger role, whereas other actors might lose control of the supply chain process.
The TradeLens platform launched in 2018, is such a digital platform. This platform allows sharing both documentation (e.g. the commercial invoice, packing list, bill-of-lading) and supply chain events (e.g. lodging ENS, the actual time of arrival) with the other actors. The platform uses a blockchain infrastructure. This structure is used to increase the trustworthiness of the data. Firstly, the auditability hinders documentation fraud as the actors within the network can trace the exact moment and actor that placed uploaded a document. The immutability of the blockchain infrastructure allows the automation of information processes. When the information is uploaded it cannot be changed. It was developed by a co-operation between a shipping carrier and a technology developer. The platform was tasked with alleviating the pressure on the administrative systems of the different actors within the supply chain. This research investigated possible scenarios due to the introduction of a digital platform using the TradeLens platform as the main research case.
Research Question and Objectives
This research aims to address the different possible future configurations of the network and roles within the container supply chain. To address this, the following main research question was developed: What is the possible supply chain configurations that come with a digital information infrastructure?.
In addressing this research question a number of research steps and clarifications have to be answered. Firstly, the research has to determine what is considered an actor within the supply chain ecosystem and what are the key activities performed in that ecosystem. Secondly, the research aims to perform an analysis of each actor and thus explain the different roles to be able to perform this analysis a theoretical model has to be developed. Thirdly, the research will evaluate the ecosystem using this model. Fourthly, the different scenarios will be developed using the developed model.
Research Method
The research employed three main methods of data collection. Firstly, a literature review is performed to identify the important information and innovation concepts to be used throughout the research. Secondly, through analysing many different public sources, the research gains company insights and information for constructing different roles, activities, and resources. Thirdly, through interviews with experts on the TradeLens platform where careful attention is given to the shifting activities, resources and control within the configuration of the network.
The used approach can be defined in four steps. First, the researchers developed an initial meta-framework using the findings from the literature review. Secondly, the different concepts within the meta-framework were combined into constructing a model for the assessment of the ecosystem. Thirdly, a generic container shipping case is construed from the information gained from the different public and academic sources. Lastly, a comparison is performed between the construed case and a test case of a Dutch tyre importer. The main findings within these steps will be discussed in the following paragraph.
Main Findings
The research identified five key theories to be of importance within the model. These are 1. Ecosystem theory, 2. Stakeholder theory, 3. Diffusion theory, 4. Control Point theory and lastly, 5. Barriers and Stimulating Factors. Firstly, the concept of the business ecosystem. An ecosystem describes how different actors within a business domain influence and interact with the other actors outside and within the direct business network. This research investigates the effect of digital platforms on ecosystem reconfiguration. The chosen system of analysis for this ecosystem reconfiguration is the blockchain-enabled platform, TradeLens. This platform enables information sharing between the different actors using a trusted blockchain structure. The TradeLens ecosystem can be considered a service ecosystem, as the main value creation is intangible and the many different actors within the ecosystem co-produce the final value within the system. Secondly, stakeholder theory describes when someone can be considered a stakeholder and how to evaluate motivations and incentives. Thirdly, diffusion theory described how an innovation such as TradeLens goes through different phases before mass-market adoption. Fourth, the control points theory explain how different actors within a business process are able to exercise control on that process. Control points were used to describe how different actors are able to perform certain roles within the ecosystem. Lastly, barriers and stimulating factors describe how certain factors can enable or disable a certain development to progress further. In the case of TradeLens this was used to investigate further growth barriers and stimulating factors.
This meta-framework was converted into a six-point assessment model. This model uses a comparison between different states of an ecosystem, to evaluate possible scenarios. The first case is that of the generic constructed benchmark. This benchmark has been developed from cross-referencing a selection of public and academic sources. The main task of the constructed case was to show a generic and common supply chain structure. To assess the enhanced version of the supply chain, a case study of a Dutch tyre importer was selected. This case was selected due to the extensive documentation around this case. Additionally, this case has ships of non-hazardous and non-perishable goods that do not require additional certificates and documentation that might be applicable for other goods. The constructed benchmark case and the tyre importer case were both evaluated using the six-point assessment. With regards to key activities, the main difference found was that the tyre importer self-organises its land transport as the organisation owns its own transportation vehicles. Secondly, the tyre importer case performed the import declaration itself. This in contrast with the benchmark case, where this task was delegated to a freight forwarder who organises both the land transport and the lodging of the import declaration. This main difference becomes more visible when assessing the second point, the key actors. Here it was observed that the freight forwarder was missing on the importing side within the tyre case. This was possible as the buyer/tyre importer performed the activities of the freight forwarder. Within the value exchanges and the key information, it was observed that the buyer was able to directly lodge the required data for the import declaration. This automated the customs lodging process and increased cost-effectiveness. Secondly, within the TI case, the buyer had its own land transport capabilities and did not rely on an intermodal operator to collect the goods from the port. This allowed the buyer to redevelop its strategy with regard to the supply chain. The effects of the digital platform allowed the process of lodging the customs declaration to be more efficient as the commercial invoice and HS codes could be directly gathered from this platform. This was made possible due to the API and blockchain data pipeline architecture of the digital platform. The API-structure allowed the data to be automatically collected, whereas the blockchain structure enhanced the trustworthiness of the submitted data. Regarding, intermodal transport. The digital platform allowed the buyer to have an accurate and actual time of release and arrival of the container. This allowed the buyer to improve the planning of the collection of the container. When observing the control points it was identified that the main control points of the freight forwarder are two-fold. First, it has the expertise and capabilities to be able to perform the customs lodging. Secondly, it has the capability of gathering and forwarding logistics data within the network. Within the tyre case, both of these control points were absorbed by the buyer.
Using the control point evaluation a set of four different scenarios were identified. These developed scenarios are not comprehensive, but a combination of these scenarios are likely to be observed in the near future. For every scenario, it is evaluated how the actor could use its current control points and the digital infrastructure to increase its control on the process and thus enable reconfiguration. Firstly, the status-quo scenario. In this scenario, there is not a clear actor who absorbs the activities of other actors. The main benefits of the digital infrastructure are experienced throughout the chain as the different actors increase their efficiency using automation and digitisation of the communication processes. In this case, no reconfiguration is thus observed. The second scenario is the development of capabilities to perform more logistical tasks within the supply chain by either the buyer, the seller or both. As observed within the tyre case, the buyer is able to more efficiently perform the customs lodging and the arrangement of land transport due to having access to the commercial invoice and the actual time of arrival and release of the container. An identified stimulating factor within the capability development of the buyer/seller is the standardisation of the data and the development of a market solution to booking and tracking logistical transport. The third scenario is where the carrier becomes a one-stop shop for logistics. Using their central position within the supply chain, they are able to redevelop their value offering. This offering is expanded with the logistical support of lodging customs data and providing intermodal transport. The fourth scenario is that of the freight forwarder expanding its value offering. Here the freight forwarder expands into managing the customer’s warehouse and perform a larger set of logistic services towards the customers.
From an academic perspective, almost all the articles analysing procurement aim to identify potential challenges, mainly related to financial and technical concerns, and subsequently provide decision-making frameworks to indicate the right path to follow when deciding which device to purchase. Very few articles perform a satisfactory analysis of the main actors involved during the procurement process and their responsibilities. Moreover, no attempts have been made to look at hospital-based procurement from a networking perspective and apply ‘Management in Networks’ theories and strategy to understand and improve it.
Considering the aforementioned practical and academic issues, this study wants to investigate how hospital-based procurement could be analysed under the network point of view. Therefore, this dissertation wants to propose a new way of looking at hospital-based procurement, taking into account the presence of potential internal networks and interactions proper of an interconnected world. More specifically, this thesis project aims to provide a satisfactory description of the main procurement activities performed within the hospital, inform about who are the actors involved, how they interact, how/if they follow specif guidelines, and the main challenges encountered. Once the author will arrive at a satisfactory description of hospital-based procurement, she will analyse this last one under the paradigms of an interconnected world, explaining how the various networking strategies and paradigms can be used to understand and analyse hospital-based procurement. Finally, this research will identify factors that could be addressed by health care decision-makers to manage technology successfully. In particular, this study intends to identify valuable strategies for technology management decision-making and activities, to detect which one should be addressed by hospitals, and to establish technology management system priorities for health care managers and clinical engineers.","Procurement; network; Management; process-based; BPMN; Health care; UK","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e23d7b84-1672-4f41-b281-72c0ce36e5e7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e23d7b84-1672-4f41-b281-72c0ce36e5e7","Gender & Stress","Hallak, Daniela (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Brazier, F.M. (mentor); Lefter, I. (mentor); Rosier, Iris (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The overwhelming majority of doctor visits are related to stress. When stress is studied the data is often not disaggregated based on gender, creating a gender data gap. Literature about mHealth apps with data analysis being disaggregated based on gender does not exist. In order to amend that, an experiment has been created where the perceived stress of participants is measured in the pretest, followed by a manipulation video that presents stress as debilitating or enhancing in nature. A posttest measures the perceived stress again, collects demographics as well as life satisfaction, self-control, and grit. Participants that joined via mHealth app Brainjam had their HRV measured as well. Manipulation videos have been found to be ineffective and were removed from data analysis. One statistically significant result depended on gender has been found. The duration of the experiment was affected by the perceived level of stress men reported, however, no significant difference was found in women.
To explore the use of a learning diary in a project setting, a pilot was done at a project called “De Groene Boog”. De Groene Boog is a large infrastructure project to extend the A16 highway in the Netherlands. The organization used to review a project only after it was completed. Which could be over a timespan of several years and a different set of people than at the beginning. In the pilot nine people from different departments of the organization were given the task to maintain a learning diary. The exercise with the learning diary was to maintain a daily reflection journal on what went well, what could have been better and what have they learned. The exercise should make the participants take time to think about improvements in the organization. At the end of the pilot, (online) interviews were conducted to assess whether this improved attitude was actually present.
The contents of the diary also did show that some topics, like time-management, were a much more frequent issue that people dealt with on a daily basis. The result of the pilot showed that maintaining a daily learning diary is too large a task for people to maintain. From the interviews it became apparent that the participants did start to think collectively on how the company should organize knowledge management on a company-wide level. However, the exact causal connection for this was not explicitly tested. During the interviews it also became clear that a monthly team reflection would have a smaller impact on the time management of people and have a larger weight to detect the lessons learned.
An exercise like the learning diary could prove to be a low-cost analysis tool to determine the biggest pains for the employees. This does however, require further research in more cases.
With IT the multi-sided platforms are exploiting the economic phenomenon known as network externalities, increase the users, increase the value of the platform.
However, the cultural differences between countries can make or break a successful entry into another national market. Simply copying the monolithic algorithms has not been the answer, as recently admitted by Amazon's departure from China.
This project looked at seemingly similar cultures (the Netherlands and Germany) to identify if the macro-level cultural dimensions influenced the acceptance and use of multi-sided platforms. This was examined through a survey that assessed the acceptance and use of online food delivery platforms, a prime example of multi-sided platforms.
The cultures do have significant differences, but their impact on the acceptance and use of online food delivery platforms was non-significant. The acceptance of online food delivery platforms still followed a 10-year different diffusion, but the significant differences on macro-level cultural dimensions did not relate to this acceptance.
An interesting conclusion to this project is that the countries, expecting to have similar cultures, are significantly different and the data gathered proves to be more substantial than this project could investigate. The UTAUT2-model did
show a significant acceptance and use of online food delivery platforms, which shows that the online food delivery platform has successfully expanded cross-culturally in the case of the Netherlands and Germany.","Multi-sided platforms; Culture; Online food delivery platforms; UTAUT2; TAM","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:dab8c214-1203-458b-ad60-ef831c5b62a4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dab8c214-1203-458b-ad60-ef831c5b62a4","Designing Efficient Renewable Energy Portfolios: A Dutch Case Study Including Dynamic Tidal Power: A Novel Application of the Modern Portfolio Theory","Tönis, Max (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Stikkelman, R.M. (mentor); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Jonkman, Sebastiaan N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","By signing the Paris Climate Agreement, The Netherlands has committed itself to curtail its CO2- emissions in order to keep global warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Pivotal to achieve these targets is the phase-out of CO2-intensive electricity generation technologies and investments in renewables. Current investments aiming to decarbonise the electricity system are predominantly allocated to solar PV and off- and onshore wind energy. However, this trajectory might change as the development of Dynamic Tidal power (DTP) might soon enable The Netherlands to harvest the North Sea’s currently unutilised tidal currents to generate clean electricity. DTP uses a 30-70 kilometre long dam perpendicular to the coast to capture the North Sea’s tidal currents. The alternating currents that proceed parallel to the coast create a hydraulic head over the dam, which turbines in the dam convert into electricity. However, the variable availability of solar irradiation, wind, and tidal currents makes it increasingly complex and costly to match electricity supply and demand as their shares in the electricity mix increase. To ensure electricity security, freely dispatchable energy generators (e.g. natural gas, biomass or coal turbines) are deployed to cover the electricity load that could not be met by the variable renewable energy (VRE) generators. However, due to the fuel used to generate electricity, dispatchable energy sources tend to emit CO2 and bear higher marginal energy generation costs than VRES. To address this problem, the portfolio shares of solar PV, offshore wind, onshore wind and DTP that minimise the need for dispatchable backup capacity and the energy generation costs were computed in this study. Due to its novelty, special attention was paid to the effect of DTP on a VRE system’s ability to efficiently match supply and demand. In order to achieve these objectives, a novel application of the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) was used. The MPT originates from the stock market but is often used to comprise VRE portfolios that maximise the electricity output. However, as the aim was to minimise the residual load, demand-variability was introduced into the MPT. Existing literature had not covered this topic. Hence, by assessing to what extent including demand-variability in the MPT affects the selection of efficient VRE portfolios, this study filled a gap in the literature and serves as a starting point for future research into the application of the MPT. In total, three different electricity demand scenarios were optimised; the contemporary load profile (1), increased peak loads due to an extreme penetration of electric vehicles (EV) and electric heat pumps (HP) (2), and a flat load profile due to an extreme penetration of demand-responsive measures (3). The most efficient portfolio shares for each demand scenario were found by computing how 35GW should be distributed among solar PV, offshore wind, onshore wind and DTP in order to minimise the need for backup capacity and energy generation costs. The results of this study indicate that regardless of the demand profile, The Netherlands’ VRE system would be most cost-efficient in meeting demand when comprised of approximately 75% DTP and 25% offshore wind. However, only under the condition that the DTP-dams are geographically dispersed. Geographically dispersed DTP-dams, for example, located in Zeeland (south of The Netherlands) and off the coast of Texel (north of The Netherlands), cancels out the volatility in the electricity output caused by high and low tide. This reduces a VRE system’s volatility in electricity output and stabilises the electricity output from the dispatchable backup system, which minimises the system’s electricity generation costs. However, in terms of the amount of backup capacity required, it was found that a system comprised entirely of DTP with an integrated battery storage system would be even more efficient. The battery storage system eliminates all variability in the electricity output from DTP, which minimises the need for dispatchable backup capacity. However, as battery storage costs are significant (approx. 100,000 €/MWh), it is unlikely that a DTP-dam with a storage system large enough to flatten its electricity output is economically viable under the current market circumstances. This might change when DTP is combined with other storage systems or if battery storage costs reduce due to learning-effect, economies of scale or technical innovations. As DTP is still in its initial development phase, it is not certain DTP will successfully penetrate the power generation market. If DTP fails to enter the market, the current VRE system (61% solar PV, 8% offshore wind and 31% onshore wind) is fairly cost-efficient. However, if the aim is to reduce the amount of dispatchable backup capacity required to ensure energy security, future investments should be allocated to offshore wind. The overarching conclusion is that there is no unequivocal VRE portfolio that is most efficient to meet demand as it depends on the perspective taken (required backup capacity versus electricity generation costs). However, this study shows that the current VRE system benefits from the inclusion of DTP, both in terms of the required amount of backup capacity and the system’s energy generation costs. Only if DTP is combined with a large battery storage system to flatten its electricity output do the system’s energy generation costs surpass the costs of the current VRE system. In regards to the effect of including demand-variability in the MPT, it was found that demand variability has a limited effect on the selection of efficient VRE portfolio shares. Only in a scenario (2) with increased peak loads did the share of offshore wind slightly increase. This is due to the fact that the peaks in electricity supply from offshore wind coincide with the peaks in demand from electric HP (winter).","Dynamic Tidal Power; Wind Energy; Solar PV; Modern Portfolio Theory; Demand-Variability; Renewable Energy; Energy Transition; Tidal Energy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b25f5133-7710-4a2c-abd8-3e4a5d929a97","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b25f5133-7710-4a2c-abd8-3e4a5d929a97","Industry4.0 Technology Battles in Manufacturing Operations Management: Non-technical dominance factors for IIoT & MES","de Vries, Aksel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","With the Fourth Industrial Revolution, new industrial automation technologies (Industrial IoT) may replace the existing standard (MES). Most literature analyses software vendor techno-functional design, or manufacturer’s digital transformation. This paper takes a novel approach, by analysing the Business Eco-System with a lens of 11 nontechnical dominance factors. Evolutionary Economics and Economics Networks models are employed, such as Platform Wars, Technology Battles and Hughes’ Large Technical System. Can existing vendors adopt the new technologies, or will market entrants gain market dominance? How can manufacturers respond to the market uncertainty? A lot is at stake; will Europe be able to re-industrialise, and re-shore millions of jobs lost to Asia?","Technology Battle; Platform War; MOM; MES; IIoT; Industry 4.0; Factory of the Future; ISA-95; RAMI4.0; B2MML; MAAS; Manufacturing as a Service; System Builder; Collaborative Supply Chain; Smart; Creation of Meaning","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2021-03-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ce869dba-cd32-471c-a88f-9b3c333a4e5c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ce869dba-cd32-471c-a88f-9b3c333a4e5c","Use of RFID at Nike: A study of Nike's RFID technology benefit analysis","Walaskar, Sukanya (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Lagrand, Eric (mentor); Brauckmiller, Ken (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","This report presents an analysis of a new technology integration, namely Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) within Nike’s supply chain processes. This analysis considers a metrics relevant to operational efficiency in terms of costs savings, reduction in labour hours and increase in revenue through sales. These metrics are benchmarked using cross sectoral data from other retail stores such as Macy and analytics obtained from Accenture. Once identified, similar parameters are estimated for Nike internal operations building on the company’s own pilot test run data. The mathematical calculation showed that using RFID technology will reduce the labour costs associated to inventory counting by 75\% and the sales generated through revenue will increase by almost 4\%. The increase in sales is compared using three different strategies. According to the research, for the complete integration of RFID technology at Nike, it might take three or more/fewer years. But this research empirically provides three different penetration strategies showing that Nike will benefit with the use of RFID technology.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5f06071c-470a-40a5-910f-ac7012699c7d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5f06071c-470a-40a5-910f-ac7012699c7d","Impact of Exclusive Lanes for Autonomous Vehicles: A Cost-benefit Analysis of Exclusive AV Lanes in Eastern China","Li, Jiahui (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, G.P. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (mentor); Santoni De Sio, F. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","These days, autonomous driving has become a popular topic in different fields and showed its unavoidable developing tendency. With the increasing application of autonomous vehicles, a mixed period of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and conventional vehicles (CVs) is inevitable. Therefore, some traffic management was proposed. Exclusive lanes for AVs are a new way to improve the mixed road environment's traffic capacity. However, the effect of exclusive AV lanes was rarely studied. Therefore, the decision-makers could not clearly understand this new policy's impact. Besides, the existing research content did not provide a detailed quantitative analysis of this new policy, which is very important for decision-makers. Thus, this thesis focused on the exclusive AV lanes and proposed the following research question: Under which conditions are exclusive autonomous vehicle lanes societally beneficial?","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:047730ad-5412-4b7e-8b7c-01fc28051b7f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:047730ad-5412-4b7e-8b7c-01fc28051b7f","Identifying Design Principles for Proactive Public Services in the Netherlands","Oude Luttighuis, Bas (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Bharosa, N. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2021","The quality of governmental service provision can be increased by raising the level of proactivity of public services, however only few best practices have been identified. This master thesis will try to fill this gap by developing a framework of design principles for proactive public services in the Netherlands. Case studies of governmental service delivery will be combined with interviews of information system architects and an academic expert to provide the necessary information for the development of a mock-up of a public service with a raised level of proactivity. The design science framework of (Hevner et al., 2004) will be combined with the Principle-Based Design methodology of (Bharosa & Janssen, 2015) in order to extract principles from the design process. The main contribution of this thesis will be the developed framework of design principles for proactive public service design in the Netherlands, which could guide governmental organizations in raising the level of proactivity of their public services.","Proactive; public; services; design; principles; e-governance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1adc9e19-fbb1-4e6e-ba9d-dc7b6cf88645","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1adc9e19-fbb1-4e6e-ba9d-dc7b6cf88645","Serious gaming for raising awareness of digitalization opportunities in supply chains - a study at Nutricia","Bódi, Dorina (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Ludema, M.W. (graduation committee); Kleiman, F. (graduation committee); Spaanderman, Liesbeth (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The fourth industrial revolution is changing the way of working and manufacturing in multiple ways. The increasing digitalization of business processes makes employees more productive, lowers costs for firms, reduces the environmental footprint of the companies, and improves the quality of services. While born-digital companies built their business process around digital opportunities by default, many large traditional companies are lagging behind in digitalization. This work aims to raise awareness of the opportunities of the digital world for the employees of large pre-digital era companies. This study was conducted at Nutricia, the subsidiary of Danone, focusing explicitly on the Deployment team, which was treated as a service provider. This work tackles the digitalization problem by developing a serious game to be played by the company's employees. To design this game, the first activity was a systematic literature review conducted to investigate the earlier applications of serious games for digitalization in supply chains. This leads to the identification of a significant research gap, as it was concluded that no serious game was developed with the purpose of initiating business process digitalization in companies. This project builds on the design science approach in the context of digitalization. An artifact was developed based on requirements collected as the first step to reach the design objective. The list of requirements was obtained based on further literature studies about digitalization and background on gaming. After the literature review, a case study was conducted on the Deployment department of Nutricia that defines additional requirements for the game design. Initially, additional knowledge was collected about the company's organization and supply chain, followed by a focused analysis of the Deployment department's business processes. Second, a survey was conducted to assess the awareness of employees amongst six planners and the team lead. The outcome confirms the need for a serious game at Nutricia as employees find digitalization beneficial; however, they lack ideas on how to continue with the digital transformation of their process. Thus, it specifies the game's design objective: the aim is to raise awareness for employees on the digitalization opportunities at the company, including how to do it and how to benefit from it. Furthermore, the results can also support the process selection and function as data input for the game design process. The most suitable business process was selected for the game in terms of showing players the digitalization opportunities. The final game design, called DigiGame, consists of two phases. Players puzzle the business process from given building blocks in the first phase and digitalize it in phase two using the available technologies. Besides completing daily tasks, participants need to select a step of the business process they want to digitalize. Then, the player is shown a hint regarding the applicable technology, which is guessed by the other player based on the description given by the initiator. The digital maturity of the process is represented by a heat map and an overall digitalization level indicator. The game is won when all technologies have been applied. Five game sessions took place, with altogether ten employees from the company. A game session consisted of a short introduction, the gameplay, and a debriefing session. After the completion of all sessions, a collaborative debriefing session took place to discuss further insights with the whole team. The game sessions were evaluated qualitatively based on transcripts. The prepared documents were coded, categorized, and networks were created with the Atlas.ti software. DigiGame, the developed artifact, provided a solution for an open business need at Nutricia, resulting in the primary practical contribution of this work. Employees became more aware of the advantages of a digital business process and already started thinking about implementation details after discussing a conceptional implementation plan. Moreover, the game session contributed to the organizational learning at Nutricia. Considering the theoretical contributions, the research confirmed the results of earlier work regarding the high potential of using serious games for raising awareness. Additionally, it was proven that a game could provide a digital mindset and introduce the opportunities of digital transformation in a business context to non-IT-focused employees, providing answers to open questions introduced by multiple previous works. Overall, it can be concluded that DigiGame successfully raised awareness on the digitalization opportunities at Nutricia for most players. The game was most effective for players who had experience with the analyzed process. Some players acquired a digital mindset during the game session and considered other business processes for digitalization options. While inexperienced players obtained little knowledge about digitalization opportunities, they stated that they had learned a lot about the process itself. Notably, no previous work revealed similar observations. Thus, it can be concluded that the game sessions contributed to the development of the participants in a diverse way. The main limitation of the game is that in the current form, it is applicable to Nutricia's process only; however, it was designed keeping in mind simple adaptability to alternative business processes. Future research is proposed in the direction of a more general game that can be adopted easier to multiple companies. Additionally, evaluating the game on a larger sample is also the subject of interest.","Digitalization; Digital transformation; Serious Game; Serious Gaming; Qualitative analysis; Atlas.ti","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:bd00e86e-928f-451d-945e-4cafd921e883","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bd00e86e-928f-451d-945e-4cafd921e883","The benefits of participatory value evaluation in a company environment: A masters thesis on the possible benefits from the use of PVE in a company environment by conducting a PVE survey for Liander asset management","Heijnen, Tom (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Mouter, N. (graduation committee); Correlje, A.F. (mentor); Fens, T.W. (graduation committee); Karakoc, I. (graduation committee); Hartsuiker, A. (graduation committee); Haanstra, W. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","This thesis explores how the benefits and drawbacks found in previous government-citizen use cases of Participatory Value Evaluation (PVE) translate to a company environment PVE use case. This research is conducted at and with the help of Liander. Liander is one of three energy distribution system operators in the Netherlands. The following research question is answered: “To what extend do the benefits of PVEs that are deployed in citizen to government context apply to the use of PVE within a company environment?”. This is done by doing exploratory research within Liander and conducting a PVE survey for their asset management department about the architectural life cycle of a compact secondary substation. Previous use cases are explored to identify the benefits and drawbacks of PVE. Agency theory is used to make a comparison between the government-citizen environment and the company environment. This comparison and the principal-agent relation is used to make predictions on the results of the survey to see if the survey produces valid data. Two of the four benefits found in previous cases translated to a company environment and the drawback translates to a lesser extent. The PVE survey used in this thesis became more complex and much more on an operational level compared to previous PVE surveys. This resulted in a smaller group of relevant participants, which directly impacted the benefits. Employees see potential to use PVE in different ways that would benefit efficiency or the flow of information. These implementations vary a lot, but for all of them the current PVE tooling is unsuitable. PVE tooling could be adapted to suit this new type of use and to increase the ease of use for companies. Further research on the exact adaptations of the PVE tooling would be needed to implement this. Future research on the use of PVE in a business environment could focus on more strategic subjects. As an example, general strategic direction could be the subject of the PVE between a company board and the company shareholders. These subjects would more closely match previous PVE cases and would help provide context for the results of this thesis.","PVE; Agency theory; Participatory Value Evaluation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3c67c691-ab93-49fb-a05d-1edc79b86f07","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3c67c691-ab93-49fb-a05d-1edc79b86f07","The Purpose of Profit","van Oord, Marina (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Naastepad, C.W.M. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Out of all the events and phenomena surrounding the financial crisis of 2007/2008, one stood out: financialization. What is financialization, why does it occur, and is it problematic? It can be described as the financial sector increasing in size and importance relative to the real economy (including, for example, in terms of business practice and policy making) because of, amongst other reasons, redirected investments. When real economic growth slowed down, attention shifted to financial growth, often expressed in profit. According to several studies, this has led to rising inequality and economic instability. Its occurrence appears to be related to an emphasis on (Neoclassical) profit maximization. In recent times, this is expressed as shareholder value maximization, which became the goal of business activity. The emphasis is arguably unjustified, because theoretical assumptions on which the goal depends, including the presence of the Neoclassical perfectly competitive market, no longer hold in current real-world conditions (they appear more oligopolistic). Perhaps therefore, the prescription of profit maximization is no longer valid. Is the solution to try and return to perfect competition? Considering the aforementioned consequences, maybe it is time to visit other ideas too. The purpose of this thesis is to find elements of an economic model and especially a business model, that would provide a different economic goal. Ideally, a goal that, through our economic activities, would enable individuals to develop themselves and to participate in a stable economic system. Based on theoretical and empirical research, the thesis presents several building blocks for an alternative business model, relating to three realms of human existence: cultural-scientific, practical-economic and legal-political.1 From Aristotelian literature2 follows that eudaimonia would be the human goal (rather than Benthamite-utilitarian utility maximization).The cultural-scientific sphere would encompass what is referred to, by for example Wilken (1982) as, the Geistesleben. There would be freedom of thought, which contributes to development of, what Aristotle calls, virtues, which are essential towards eudaimonia. Financial literacy (Houghton Budd, 2017) might be instrumental. It would mean everyone would understand accounting and (also practice) bookkeeping in particular. An analogy with a mirror demonstrates that accounting shows what is happening. It is neutral yet it allows people to see what is going on, and thereby hold each other accountable. The practical-economic sphere would be devoted to fulfilling the material needs of people. It is important to note that this would not include limitless wants (which means the consumer is not insatiable). The underlying idea for economic activity would be the implementation of the ‘just price’3. A just price ensures that the costs of production are covered, but also, and this is an elaboration, the intellectual or spiritual input. The just price would be paid for the product of labour, and the input of the Geist of the producer. Labour would not be traded in a market because then remuneration might fall below that what is needed. Undeniably, the fact that there would be no labour market has huge implications.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ec33b332-5b6b-42d3-9da8-6ea76384c54b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ec33b332-5b6b-42d3-9da8-6ea76384c54b","The Role of Moral Emotions among Software Engineers in Value-Decisions during Engineering Design Phases: An Exploratory Study","Prakash, Sawan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roeser, S. (mentor); Rook, L. (graduation committee); Marin, L. (graduation committee); Steinert, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Emotions and moral values have gained attention in recent researches in philosophy and ethics of engineering. This is due to its usefulness in assessing the technological risks imposed towards its user or society. Furthermore, moral emotions assist in reflection of moral values and research stress upon involving emotions in design practices. Moreover, researchers argue that engineers are the people who spend the most time with the development of technology. Thus, they must consider their emotions to influence moral values to mitigate risks that are associated with the technology. However, to what extent this prevails among engineers was not clear. Thus, through the use of semi-structured interviews with software engineers, this exploratory research shows the underwhelming role of moral emotions among engineers. The findings also showcase the perception of software engineers towards the involvement of moral values as something insignificant in the design practices. Lastly, this research recommends acknowledging the emotional responses of engineers by the management, training engineers as virtue ethicists and encouraging imaginative capacities and drawing attention to values for engineers during engineering design phases.","Emotions; Values; Moral Acceptability; risk","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c40d1868-b951-45af-bfce-c1a44bf4a891","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c40d1868-b951-45af-bfce-c1a44bf4a891","The Development of a Responsible Cultured Meat Innovation System in The Netherlands","Guurink, Margot (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Applied Sciences)","Quist, J.N. (mentor); Werker, C. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","As of today, many people are aware of the negative impacts of eating farmed meat. The current farming system is a burden on the environment and animal welfare, as well as an potential threat to human health. Moreover, to secure food for our growing society, a change in the current food system is inevitable. Since people are still hesitant to cut meat out of their diets, this asks for a more sustainable production of meat. We can think of improving our current farming system. However, new technologies can offer more efficient and sustainable alternatives to the (improved) existing farming system. One of these alternatives is cultured meat (CM). The advantage of CM compared to other (plant-based) meat substitutes, is that it is exactly the same product as farmed meat. Many academic research has already been performed and published on CM over the past few years. These papers mainly describe either the technical aspects, consumer acceptance, ethics, and/or environmental impact. The focus has rarely been on describing the entire socio-technical context of CM, and the formation and subsequent functioning of a future CM industry. This, while deep changes of the socio-technical system are required to succeed in developing CM. Therefore, this research aims at mapping out the Dutch socio-technical system of cultured meat, in order to evaluate the development of the socio-technical system and investigate its potential to grow. Eventually aiming at answering: ‘How has the Dutch socio-technical system of cultured meat been developing and under which circumstances will it grow?’. In finding an answer to this question, a framework combining the functions of innovation system (FIS) approach and the multi-level perspective (MLP), is adopted. To complement for the lack of focus on actor values and strategies of an integrated FIS-MLP framework, analysis of actor strategies and actor values are separately integrated in this model. Information has been retrieved from a combination of desk research and expert interviews. In the first part of the research, the Dutch cultured meat innovation system has been analysed in terms of its structural and functional components. The Dutch CM scene is still in its infancy. The technology is still strongly evolving – mostly at the two Dutch CM start-ups Mosa Meat & Meatable – , the networks are still small, little amount of suppliers are in sphere, and no product is on the market yet. Looking into the functioning of the system, no central guidance is present in the Dutch CM system, while this is important to align the visions of key stakeholders. Moreover, lobby activities are limited, while these can be crucial in increasing the legitimacy of the technology. In the second research part, the external context of the innovation system has been explored. First, the recent developments on landscape and regime levels have been determined, followed by the identification of actor strategies and actor values. Partly following from the lack of central guidance, we can observe diverging actor values and expectations. While all actors value sustainability and environmental benefits, their view on how to achieve this differs. Ranging from improving current farming system to meat alternatives and CM. The CM sector is no longer government funded, but fully dependent on private investors. This caused the research to shift from universities to the two start-ups, who keep their research highly confidential. This also causes the CM research and values within this research of actors to diverge. By collecting and coupling the outcomes of the first two research parts, the elements blocking or facilitating the development of the Dutch cultured meat innovation system have been identified. Based on these analysed system problems, recommendations for strategic actions for specific actor groups with influencing power, have been established. Altogether, the development of the Dutch CM scene and subsequent industry, requires more time and more money to do research. Implementing the suggested recommendations could help in facilitating this.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5b95768f-3ea7-428c-8735-fd22263f9dfa","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5b95768f-3ea7-428c-8735-fd22263f9dfa","Choice Overload in E-Tourism: The influence of choice complexity and maximizing tendency on post-choice satisfaction","khan, Abrar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The dynamic nature of the market with constant technological developments continuously changes expectations from users over time. This drives businesses to alter their product and service offerings to maintain a competitive advantage, stable growth and, high customer satisfaction. Since economic goals drive businesses, it is often assumed that abundance of choice options is better, and will eventually result in increased profitability for the business. However, this is not necessarily the case. Consumers may experience a subjective state of mind termed as “choice overload” when presented with a plenitude of choice options. Consequently, consumers may fall victim to indecision, reduced customer satisfaction, and increased regret, to name a few. Previous research has formulated a cohesive understanding of choice overload in consumer decision making. Extant research in the field of consumer behaviour has identified several antecedents and concomitants of choice overload experienced by consumers. A vast bulk of research has also discovered repugnant effects of choice overload, due to context-dependency and other intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing the choice overload effect. As a result, the questions of when and whether large assortments are detrimental to consumers remains open. This, offers an opportunity to extend the literature in this field by considering different contextual factors and variables that were thus far overlooked. The present study specifically aims to reduce the research gap that exists between Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) by understanding the choice overload effect, within the domain of e-tourism. Apprehension of the choice environment and consumer purchase behaviour is essential to close this existing gap and increase customer satisfaction. In this study, choice complexity is considered as an antecedent of choice overload. Choice complexity encapsulates two structural factors of the choice set – number of alternatives and number of attributes/levels. These factors allow for the construction of a measurement variable for choice complexity (entropy) where high entropy translates to high choice complexity. Moreover, individual differences in maximizing behavioural tendency (in terms of strategy and goal) are investigated. When consumers score high on maximizing tendency strategy, they optimize choice through employing a strategy of extensive information search. Similarly, when consumers score high on maximizing tendency goals, they strive to obtain the best possible choice from the available alternatives. Post-choice satisfaction is defined as the post-decision evaluation of the choice selected by the consumer. Specifically measured on two constructs - general satisfaction and outcome satisfaction. General satisfaction measures satisfaction of the consumer related to the process of arriving at a decision. Whereas, outcome satisfaction measures satisfaction related to the certainty in the choice decision. A choice experiment practically assessed the relationship between choice complexity and post-choice satisfaction, moderated by consumer purchase behaviour. The experimental design consisted of a Low Complex (LC) choice set and a High Complex (HC) choice set (distinguished based on entropy measurements) that allowed for the measurement and comparison of perceived complexity in a complicated choice environment. Respondents conducted a post-choice questionnaire designed to assess post-choice satisfaction and perceived choice complexity. Consumer purchase behaviour was assessed in a different section of the survey based on two different scales - maximizing tendency strategy and maximizing tendency goal. Statistical analysis was conducted on the obtained data to find the relationship between the variables under study. The experiment established the existence of choice complexity in e-tourism. Results showed an inverse relationship between choice complexity and post-choice satisfaction indicating that respondents were less satisfied with their choice when presented with a choice set of high choice complexity. Moreover, maximizing tendency strategy negatively influenced this relationship. Maximizers (i.e., respondents who scored high on the scale assessing maximizing behavioural tendency for strategy), extensively search through alternatives, eventually to formulate trade-offs and comparisons between the alternatives presented. Such maximizers were less satisfied with their choice having gone through a choice set of high complexity as compared to a choice set of low complexity. No such effects were found for the scale, maximizing tendency goals. The detriments of offering too much choice are real. Businesses within service industries such as e-tourism are therefore recommended to improve the quality/quantity of content due to intrinsic (i.e., intangibility, high monetary value, less purchase frequency) and extrinsic (i.e., a high number of alternatives and number of attributes/levels) factors. Each of these factors may make the service offering more complex for consumers to choose from. Managerial implications of the present study include the perspective (technology-centered view and human-centered view) that businesses can adopt. This perspective acknowledges the existence of choice complexity and maximizing tendencies, thereby optimizing the digitized environment towards better personalization. Doing this correctly would result in increased customer satisfaction due to better adaptation of digital environments by businesses to the needs and behaviours of consumers. The inclusion of entropy accurately provides the amount of information in bits; this measurement variable could be used by businesses to improve their algorithms. Finally, some companies in e-tourism have already begun to implement similar strategies, and reported in a significant increase in customer satisfaction, reservations, and overall sales. This gives evidence towards the practical importance of this study, and further emphasizes that businesses can indeed optimize their approach specifically towards the quality/quantity of content provided to consumers. In conclusion, the present study shows a negative relationship between choice complexity and post-choice satisfaction, with the inclusion of maximizing tendencies within the domain of e-tourism. Business may derive implications from this research to optimize their digital environments through increase in content personalization and reduction in choice complexity.","Choice overload; E-Tourism; Consumer behaviour; Choice complexity; Customer satisfaction; Maximization","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5a98cef8-9cc1-4be9-be68-517e6474669d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5a98cef8-9cc1-4be9-be68-517e6474669d","Influence of Industry 4.0 on supply chain resilience: The case of chlor-alkali supply chain: A qualitative case study of the chlor-alkali supply chain","Chittur Ramasubramaniam, Subbaraman (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tavasszy, L.A. (graduation committee); Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Zuiderwijk-van Eijk, A.M.G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","class=""MsoNormal"">The usage of Industry 4.0 technologies isgaining a lot of popularity in the context of manufacturing industries. Theyoffer improvements to the traditional manufacturing environment by offeringmore connectivity and integration in the business processes. Many companies aremoving towards these technologies to harness these improvements. Using Industry4.0 technologies improves performance, efficiency and even competitive advantage.Whereas, it is not known how it affects supply chain resilience-ability of thesupply chain to react to disruptive events and quickly regain performance. Thereis a chance that Industry 4.0 changes the competencies of an organisation andmakes it more vulnerable to disruptions. The objective of this research is to ascertainhow Industry 4.0 influences supply chain resilience and in what ways it can beused to improve the latter.For investigating this problem, aqualitative case study design was used. The usage of Industry 4.0 technologieswithin the chlor-alkali supply chain was analysed. Literature reviews ofIndustry 4.0 and supply chain resilience were conducted to gain a betterunderstanding. The usage of the following Industry 4.0 technologies was considered- Internet of Things, Cyber-Physical Systems, Cloud computing, EnterpriseResource Planning, and Big data analytics. Data were gathered throughsemi-structured interviews with two respondents. The study finds that Industry 4.0 has a limitedpositive influence on supply chain resilience when the disruption arises withinthe supply chain. But, when there is disruption arises outside the supplychain, it has no impact or sometimes a negative impact on supply chainresilience. Additionally, this study proposes three strategies that can be usedto implement Industry 4.0 to have a positive impact on resilience. They are themapping of critical processes, design and programming of the system, andvisibility enhancement within the supply chain. These strategies can be used by managerswhen they are evaluating the implementation of Industry 4.0 within theirorganisations and supply chains. This is a unique study that bridges theknowledge gap and assesses the influence of Industry 4.0 on supply chainresilience. ","Industry 4.0; Supply chain resilience; Chlor-alkali supply chain; Supply chain risk management; Internet of Things (IoT); Cyber pysical system; Qualitative Research; Case Study Research","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6bea169b-825b-4c62-a0e0-bc82dda5300f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6bea169b-825b-4c62-a0e0-bc82dda5300f","Overcoming the ethical challenges of cause marketing:: A qualitative exploration in the Dutch services sector","Bergen, Lilly-Kyara (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Nowadays, it is not enough for companies to only focus on their business operations and financial performance. ‘Doing good’ needs to be part of the business strategy as they must do their part in addressing the grand societal challenges. Cause related marketing (CRM) is one such strategy set to address this. CRM is a powerful tool used to advance both the business and the charity (the cause) to therefore achieve mutual benefit. However, there is a dark side associated to the implementation of this theory. The impact this has on consumers can be explained by the ethical aspect associated with CRM campaigns, which positively influences the consumer’s perception of the company image. Consumers undergo an attitude change because of the link to the good cause. Customers feel that buying CRM products leads them to encounter feelings of satisfaction and altruism which leaves room for companies to take advantage of this. People are often very eager to help without ever having seen proof that donations are used effectively. The latter can be achieved through vivid advertisement and a lack of transparency. There is a problem since people choose to support a cause based on the emotional connection they feel towards the cause and the company. It was proven that if the public is skeptical about the link between company and cause, or if they perceive the company as selfish and corrupt, huge outrage will follow. However, there are several challenges since only the perception of goodwill is needed to get the public on board. It can be argued that business must balance corporate and humanitarian interest. The way to effectively employ CRM is to address the challenges associated with CRM. Balance is needed to meet the business and societal interests. During this thesis project the potential dark side was explored by identifying the ethical challenges. This is done through a case study at a company in the services industry. The data was tested in two stages via interviews and a workshop with brainstorming element, respectively. Taken together, the case study identified a set of four pillars: skepticism, altruism, shared values and transparency. These findings are of importance, because they indicate that the need for shared values is, indeed, essential to cope with ethical challenges in corporate marketing activities. However, the societal aspect of business cannot be neglected. Financial and societal goals have historically been perceived as two entirely different objectives that may even clash with each other. In reality, this dichotomy may not really hold, since a business cannot survive without society, and vice versa. Shared values represent the way in which business and society can both prosper. This finding is in line with the theory of ‘Marketing 3.0’, which argues that consumers have more power than ever before to express what the requirements of a corporate CRM campaign must be in order to satisfy the needs and wants of the public. The case company was very aware of the necessity to preventing skepticism; the company carefully avoided being perceived as self-centered in their marketing activities.","cause related marketing; Corporate social responsibility; CRM; CSR; Ethics","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2a804aba-1915-4e58-90c8-c158709b6f45","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2a804aba-1915-4e58-90c8-c158709b6f45","Collaboration Framework for Developed and Emerging Market Multinational Enterprises in the Context of Reverse Innovation: Cases from Medical Devices","van Kleef, Coen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Copeland, S.M. (graduation committee); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Developed market multinational enterprises (DMNEs) and emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) can serve developed and emerging markets via a strategic alliance, encouraging reverse innovation. The objective of this study is to identify an alliance strategy and alliance dynamics that encourage innovation of low-cost medical devices which have the potential to become reverse innovations. The main research question is therefore as follows: ‘What kind of collaboration framework can ensure collaboration between a DMNE and an EMNE in the context of reverse innovation of medical devices?’ The study found that a joint venture is an appropriate type of alliance strategy and that the alliance dynamics that can be used by managers to stimulate collaboration are: strategic positioning, value alignment, balanced loyalty and bilateral learning. Symmetry is considered as a context dependent alliance dynamic as it is considered important in the scientific literature but was less important in the two analyzed cases. A key means of continuously aligning the values and strategic positioning of the enterprises is the relationships at the senior level of the enterprises and the joint venture. A key means of balancing the loyalty to the joint venture and to the parent companies is to hire people from the enterprise whose organizational culture is in minority in the joint venture or hire people with no history at one of the enterprises.","Reverse Innovation; Alliance Dynamics; Medical Devices; Collaboration Framework","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:85674eaf-67b9-4843-a677-cefffe4df3de","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:85674eaf-67b9-4843-a677-cefffe4df3de","The effects of rental electric vehicles on fast charging demand: A case study of Icelandic energy provider ON Power's fast charging network","Grímsson, Grímur (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Maknoon, M.Y. (mentor); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Lukszo, Z. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Accurately forecasting charging demand is a major factor in energy providers’ ability to meet said demand. A number of methods have been proposed in the literature. This master thesis aims to provide a framework for energy providers to forecast charging demand due to increased EV adoption. Specifically, this research examines the effects that rental EV adoption has on charging demand at Icelandic energy provider ON Power’s fast charging stations. Further, it establishes how increased technological developments and infrastructure spending can be balanced to avoid unnecessary costs, and if ON Power’s charging infrastructure is prepared to meet the electricity demand that a fully electrified rental car fleet would bring. To answer these questions, an agent-based modeling framework was constructed to simulate charging demand in ON Power’s network. The model simulates all tourists that use rental cars in driving the Icelandic ring road as if the entire fleet consisted of EVs. A case study is conducted where the Icelandic ring road is split into nine zones, and six scenarios that each reflect different technological developments are simulated using the modeling framework. The research findings indicate a significant change in charging demand. Firstly, rental EVs affect seasonal charging demand with more than half of the demand occurring in the summer months of June-August. Secondly, geographical charging demand shifts from mostly being in the greater capital area, to mostly being outside of it. Thirdly, a sufficient charging infrastructure at Keflavík Airport is a major factor in the electrification of the Icelandic rental car fleet. The research findings further indicate that with the right strategy, it is well within reach for ON Power to handle the rental EV charging demand. A strategy is proposed for ON power to avoid unnecessary spending while still meeting charging demand, which considers current demand, future demand, and how new charging station locations should be determined.","ABM; simulation; charging demand; electric vehicles","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e6af378e-2ac1-46ca-8bfc-fe687b0872cd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e6af378e-2ac1-46ca-8bfc-fe687b0872cd","Carbon capture and storage in industrial product value chain: An economic assessment of the impact of carbon capture and storage in the industrial product value chain: from industrial production to final product","Rodriguez Angel, Elda (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ramirez, Andrea (graduation committee); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Roussanaly, Simon (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","This research provides insight into the implementation of CCS in industrial production from a consumer perspective (i.e., the cost impact on the final product). The impact of implementing CCS in two different industries (e.g., cement and steel) to produce a final product is analyzed. Also, this research provides insight into CCS implementation in industries with high consumption products. It can be concluded that implementing CCS in industrial processes offers a solution to decarbonize industrial processes with a small impact on the final product cost.","CCS; industry value chain; CO2 capture; CO2 abatement","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:bc01b393-909c-4b57-a973-820fa4535e03","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bc01b393-909c-4b57-a973-820fa4535e03","Software Architecture for a Self-Organizing Logistics Planning System: A continuation study on the SOLiD project","Valdivia, Diego (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Duin, Ron (mentor); Ubacht, J. (graduation committee); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); van Dijk, Bernd (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The rise of e-commerce has led to a congested last-mile delivery paradigm. Increasing customer expectations have pushed carriers into a delivery market with diminishing profitability. Furthermore, the current state of last-mile delivery has high societal costs in congestion and environmental impact. To address these challenges, scientists in the logistics field have proposed multimodal transport and collaborative delivery. However, current centralized logistics planning systems are unable to cope with the complexity that these solutions pose. For this reason, Thymo Vlot developed a Self-Organizing Logistics algorithm that leverages decentralization to enable multimodal transport and collaborative delivery. However, the logistics planning system that would utilize this algorithm was left undeveloped, which motivates this thesis project. The first step to develop a software project is to define its architecture. In this thesis project, I analyze Thymo Vlot’s algorithm and develop the software architecture of a logistics planning system that would use it. The main design tool consisted of the selection and application of architectural patterns, which are documented solutions to commonplace problems in software development, drawn from the literature and modern distributed systems. The result of this project is an event-driven microservices architecture, which is highly granular, modifiable, and scalable. These characteristics give the project significant commercial value, as the architecture can be applied to different use cases with different algorithms. The project also leaves behind an architecture with small components, which eases the development cycle of the logistics planning system, thus addressing important managerial challenges. Finally, this project makes significant scientific contributions by developing a software solution that addresses managerial, societal, and environmental challenges of last-mile delivery, thus providing a stepping stone for further research that bridges the gap between the logistics and computer science fields.","self-organized systems; smart parcels; software architecture; Distributed Systems; Logistics; Parcel Delivery; Last mile delivery; Netherlands","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2022-12-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a10a16a8-d390-4c59-b8f5-4259039ad1e9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a10a16a8-d390-4c59-b8f5-4259039ad1e9","Digitizing Project Portfolio Management in the Architecture, Engineering & Construction Industry: The Application of Data & Analytics for Evidence-Based Decision-Making","Wittebrood, Coen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","This master thesis research has the aim to investigate how Data & Analytics enhance monitoring, reporting and control in project portfolio management practices to improve portfolio decision-making in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Adequately and regularly reconsidering the project portfolio, with interdependencies towards the internal and external complex and rapidly changing environment, has shown to be a determinant for being successful in creating competitive advantage and securing the future of organisations that are project-based. Especially in the information technology (IT) field, rapid technological changes aim for dynamic organisational capabilities. This is reflected by the demand for digitized project portfolio management (PPM) using Data & Analytics. Although literature in the academic research field of project and project portfolio management describe different frameworks for PPM, there is a lack of context and practice. Information regarding comprehensive PPM frameworks that incorporate organisational, technological, and environmental factors found through empirical research are missing. Moreover, industry specific factors are missing as frameworks are generic and standardized, existing PPM practices miss adequacy and regularity and are often based on intuition, power, opinion, and leadership. To enhance competitive advantage within the AEC industry, a comprehensive approach in PPM is investigated with a focus on digitization and Data & Analytics. The conceptual framework that is developed is built on the three pillars, people, processes, and technology. Adherent to the conceptual framework, key success factors (KSFs) for portfolio performance and project success in the AEC industry are found that in the end drive business success. Findings indicate that the whole range from descriptive analytics to prescriptive analytics apply to PPM practices. Most value can be derived through starting with improved descriptive analytics through visualization and dashboarding. The developed conceptual framework is theoretic and implementation of the framework in practice is subject to influencing factors. Findings indicate different categories of influencing factors, under which digitalization in the AEC industry, general barriers to PPM, project management and data management maturity, and barriers to Data & Analytics. Some factors are covered through the framework, other factors are refuted with resolutions.","Project Management; Portfolio Management; AEC industry; Data; Analytics; Digitizing","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2021-10-13","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1b9f0af1-0e0f-4a1b-8450-e6d888ba6bff","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1b9f0af1-0e0f-4a1b-8450-e6d888ba6bff","Cost-Benefit Analysis of Safety Policies on Construction Sites in India","SARDA, ANURAG (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, G.P. (graduation committee); Annema, J.A. (mentor); van Nunen, K.L.L. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","This thesis explores Indian construction industry safety measures and their benefit to cost ratios. In India, the construction sector is the second largest employer after agriculture. Around 50 million workers work in the construction sector to earn easy money at the end of the day. About 48,000 workers die in India due to occupational accidents every year, and around 38 construction accidents occur every day in India. This thesis analyses the social impacts of safety policies and their employers' financial implications. No such studies have been done previously for the Indian construction market. There have been studies regarding estimating the number of accidents in India, respective safety measures, etc. Implementation of safety policies can reduce the number of casualties up to 20%-30%. The performance of safety policies will benefit the workers, their families, friends, relatives, and society. It is common for Indian construction companies not to invest in construction health & safety measures because it is cheaper for them to pay the costs of compensation for accidents than modernizing their facilities to make them safer. It seems essential to understand the need to invest in safety measures from a societal perspective. Thus, this research is a study about the impacts of safety policies with cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and how the CBA results can be utilized in the decision making for the policymakers, employers, and other stakeholders in the industry. First, a literature review was conducted to better understand the Indian construction industry's problems and probable solutions. Literature was also undertaken to understand the concepts regarding the cost-benefit analysis. Additionally, interviews were conducted to get the required data to perform the cost-benefit analysis and partly answer the research questions. For the research, eight interviews were conducted with people who closely work in the Indian construction industry. Based on the interviews, five significant safety policies were identified to be implemented at the construction sites in India to reduce accidents. These five safety policies were considered as a package to perform a societal cost-benefit analysis. The societal cost-benefit analysis was performed to find the impacts of safety measures only from the societal perspective. Next to this, a business financial impact analysis for the safety measures was conducted to see their effects only from the employer's perspective. In general, the interviewees believed that the number of accidents occurs in Indian construction sites due to the lack of safety measures provided by the companies and the illiteracy of most workers and their unorganized way of working. They also suggested that these accidents can be reduced by implementing safety policies, as shown in the table below. Most of them estimated that taking these safety measures could reduce the number of accidents by almost one-fourth.","Cost-Benefit Analysis; Indian Construction Industry; Construction Accidents; Safety Measures","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2c756aa1-3cde-4fec-9614-b37f9793cbf3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2c756aa1-3cde-4fec-9614-b37f9793cbf3","The Maintenance Wheel: Creating a maintenance management framework","Talleraas, Henrik (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Lukszo, Z. (graduation committee); Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","In a world where companies rely increasingly on machines and automated production lines to deliver customer value, asset availability is a becoming a larger driver of companies’ productivity and thus performance. In effect, where maintenance was historically perceived as a cost-centre, it is generally treated as a value-adding business element that must be effectively managed today. However, the increased use of machines and automation has also resulted in an increasing portfolio of assets, often with a highly complex nature. Coupling the growing portfolio of complex assets with factors such as maintenance being a cross-functional activity, stricter HSE requirements, a stochastic maintenance demand, maintenance management complexity has also increased drastically. The result is a reality where maintenance is, on the one hand, becoming more critical to companies’ performance. Simultaneously, it is also a large and growing source of operational issues and costs that is highly challenging to improve.
This thesis project is conducted for a consulting firm specialised in helping customers realise benefits. Prior to this thesis, they had access to a highly successful way of managing maintenance developed and applied in the industry by a second company. This maintenance management approach is called The Maintenance Wheel. It has realised benefits in the magnitude of roughly 10 M EUR per year in combined savings from two large-scale facilities. Moreover, it contributed to a significant increase in maintenance quality. In effect, this maintenance management approach provides a way to cope with the increased maintenance complexity, with massive empirical benefits.
Seeing this, the consulting firm has attempted to help customers with ineffective and inefficient maintenance operations realise benefits through The Maintenance Wheel. However, they have struggled to convince their customers to implement it, seeing that the customers struggle to understand the management approach. As senior managers considering The Maintenance Wheel will perceive it as an innovation, Karabin is struggling with an innovation diffusion barrier, caused by a failure to transfer knowledge on how The Maintenance Wheel works effectively.
The management approach was developed internally by the second company, without considering diffusion. Consequently, there existed no conceptual description of the management approach prior to this thesis. Seeing this, the thesis project research objective was to design an MMF aimed communicating how The Maintenance Wheel works to help cope with the knowledge-based diffusion barrier. Note that an MMF is a theoretical framework explaining an approach to managing maintenance. This MMF effectively provides knowledge on how The Maintenance Wheel work, and was constructed with a design science research methodology.
The evaluation indicated that the constructed MMF sufficiently communicates how The Maintenance Wheel works. After a brief presentation for senior managers with no prior knowledge of how The Maintenance Wheel worked, it was possible to have in-depth discussions. Thus, the knowledge-based diffusion barrier caused by customers’ senior managers not understanding the management approach should be solved.
Nevertheless, the evaluation also showed that one particular area of future development is required. The senior managers interviewed requested examples of how the framework work in practice. In effect, to help more effectively transfer knowledge on how The Maintenance Wheel works, the consulting firm should provide practical examples of the different elements of the framework.","Maintenance management; maintenance management frameworks; business process management; performance management; diffusion of innovations; design science research","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4819b4ed-cd33-466c-9e51-e3b863334ad7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4819b4ed-cd33-466c-9e51-e3b863334ad7","Assessing Innovation readiness for Financial innovations in the pre-diffusion phase","Parashar, Yash (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (graduation committee); Huls, Chris (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","While innovation has always been viewed as a way to create sustained competitive advantage, the need to innovate has never been more for the financial sector. The financial industry, especially the financial service industry has been dominated by traditional institutions: Banks, in the past. However, with the advent of the digital transformation era, the distinction between different industries hardly stands. Tech companies are challenging established financial firms through high tech financial products and services. This creates a highly competitive innovation environment for Banks to compete in. Innovation was not a high priority for banks previously, however now they see themselves fighting against technology companies on unfamiliar battlegrounds. To compete with technology companies, the financial industry is shifting its focus to products and services based on emerging breakthrough innovations. Innovations centers are being set up in organizations that experiment with several technologies simultaneously. This study is aimed to help innovation centers at financial organizations in their innovation efforts, more specifically in understanding when the innovations are ready. When several innovations are being developed in parallel, it is easy to lose sight of what qualifies as mature. Past literature, in the field of innovation management, has suggested Innovation readiness assessment as a method to understand the maturity/readiness of innovations. However, most of these studies have been fragmented, with no application in the financial sector. Based on these gaps this study is used to answer the research question “How can innovation centers at financial institutions evaluate the readiness of emerging technologies in the pre-diffusion phase?” Through an intensive literature review, four dimensions are identified as crucial to innovation readiness: Technology, Organization, Market, and Regulation. The Regulation dimension is later combined with the Market dimension to keep this study more generalizable. Based on these dimensions, an initial framework is developed combining factors from each of the four dimensions. The initial framework consists of 28 factors: Six technology factors, ten organization factors, and twelve market factors including factors for the regulatory aspect. The initial framework is later tested in a financial organization using three case studies. Each case study is considerably different from the other. These cases are investigated from a dyadic viewpoint, considering opinions from both technology and business actors in the organization. The data is collected via semi-structured interviews and is predominantly qualitative. Furthermore, Data is codified and analyzed using a Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis Software (CAQDAS). The results from the analysis are presented in the form of individual case reports followed by a cross-case study of all distinguishing factors. The framework is readapted into a tool, based on the insights generated. Known as the Financial innovation readiness tool (Financial IRT), it delineates readiness factors into Pivotal, Indeterminate, and Differential. While Pivotal factors are highly relevant to innovation readiness, the Differential category accounts for factors with fluctuating relevance across cases. This tool is supplemented with a process for its application. The process allows innovation centers at financial centers to surface relevant readiness factors associated with an innovation and compare different innovations. As an addition to the existing decision-making process, the tool allows exploration and identification of potentially successful innovations. Prioritizing ideas allows time, effort, and investment to be directed towards projects with more chances of being a final product. Hence, with the use of the Financial IRT, the innovation process at financial organizations could be made more efficient. Although the results are quite encouraging, the generalizability of the tool is weak. The tool needs to be tested for its applicability across industries. Moreover, the tool is in no way definite in its application. The study was explorative in nature. There may exist other concepts that were not covered in this study. This opens the possibility for further investigation.","Innovation; Readiness Assessment; Transition management; Financial innovations","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4916b73e-a496-48c0-b0f7-8a1c78bf5749","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4916b73e-a496-48c0-b0f7-8a1c78bf5749","Scenario Analysis of Secure Multi-party Computation implementation in EU-based multinational banks","Lam, Julia (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Steenbergen, Roel (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","EU banks have a dual obligation to generate and protect assets as a due diligence for their customers, their business longevity, and in accordance with regulatory bodies. The effective use of data presents opportunities for banks to meet their obligations in improving financial risk and also ensuring business growth and continuity in their offerings. For these reasons, there is value in acquiring and using mixed or aggregated data sets from external sources as a means to extrapolate and gain information and knowledge. However, the balance between data privacy and data use remains a challenge for banks which impedes on their ability to proficiently and resourcefully generate and protect their assets. Privacy-preserving data sharing methods such as Secure Multiparty Computation or MPC may be a viable solution for enterprises facing this issue. Through the use of multiple cryptography protocols and computational algorithms, MPC is a technology that enables parties to anonymously compute functions on shared data without demanding a trusted third party. This study aimed to explore the potential business impact of MPC whereby semi-structured interviews were conducted with expert stakeholders from three major EU multi-national banks. The possible future outcomes of MPC implementation is determined via a scenario analysis over time horizon of five years (2020-2025). Based on value creation theories from inter-organizational systems and business model disciplines, a conceptual model for MPC implementation outcomes was developed to guide the scenario analysis process. This study found that there are generally four archetypes of scenarios for MPC implementation in banks leading to improved internal efficiency of banks and/or (in)direct MPC enabled business models. Besides known MPC use-cases in money laundering initiatives and security risk frameworks, new MPC business cases were found for data-driven ""as a service"" models and (cross)industry data platforms. This study also identified new business model components based on an existing taxonomy of data-driven business models.","Secure multi-party computation; MPC; SMPC; business model innovation; Data-driven business models; Scenario Analysis; Banking; Emerging technologies","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b9d3bef9-867c-4eb7-9108-937a6836d5f4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b9d3bef9-867c-4eb7-9108-937a6836d5f4","Factors influencing commercialization phase of social innovation and entrepreneurship: The case of rural renewable energy in Indonesia","Angginta Ramdani Ibrahim, Ginta (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Kroesen, J.O. (mentor); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Almost 25 million people in Indonesia are still living in poverty. Most of these people are living in a rural area. Energy provision is considered as one of the first steps towards poverty alleviation. However, there are many challenges faced by the Indonesian government in providing electricity to the rural area, because most of the non-electrified villages are difficult to access by off-grid connection. Hence, renewable energy technology is widely considered as the most viable option for rural electrification that could stimulate economic growth without harming the environment. As technology provider agents, social entrepreneurs and NGOs have an essential role in technology development and knowledge transfer to people in a rural area. This highlights the importance of social entrepreneurship in supporting rural development and electrification. However, the implementation of rural renewable energy has high dependencies on charitable funding and grants. This addresses the most critical challenge for social enterprises and NGOs, that is to become financially and socially sustainable, especially after the launch of the innovation. Thus, identification and analysis of critical success factors for the commercialization phase of social innovation are needed. This study aims to identify and analyze the critical success factors influencing social innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in the rural renewable energy field. Then, possible recommendations can be proposed to overcome the barriers. A combination of research methodologies is used in this study, combining both primary and secondary data through literature review, interview, and case study with cross-case analysis. The case study will be conducted by analyzing three social entrepreneurs focusing on rural renewable energy in Indonesia, such as Lentera Bumi Nusantara (LBN) for the wind turbine, Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) Sumba for solar PV, and Institut Bisnis dan Ekonomi Kerakyatan (IBEKA) for micro-hydro. The main deliverables from this study are the framework of influencing factors for social innovation in the commercialization phase and recommendations to overcome the barriers. The proposed framework and suggestions can be used as a basis for future research in other cases of social innovation, not only limited to rural development and renewable energy field. The study provides a final framework of 20 factors, which is based on these three levels: individual organization, civil society, and state. For the “individual organization” level, the factors are long-term goals and commitment, planning and targets, credibility and capability of the company, organizational culture and environment, qualified personnel, benefits for personnel, the role of company leaders, products and services, cost recovery model, natural resources, and standard procedures and practices. For the “civil society” level, the factors are target market readiness, benefits for users or community, community involvement and participation, network and partnership, financial support, and competition. For the “state” dimension, the factors are regulations and policies, administrative and bureaucratic procedures, and infrastructure.","Social innovation; Social entrepreneurship; Renewable Energy; rural development","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0c3a94d2-195c-4902-b547-820a716ce210","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0c3a94d2-195c-4902-b547-820a716ce210","Tracing Blockchain Value: Understanding The Case Of Blockchain In Supply Chain Traceability","Buist, Declan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verbraeck, A. (mentor); Kuijpers, A.G.J. (graduation committee); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (graduation committee); Ding, Aaron Yi (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Modern supply chain and procurement departments are faced with a lot of challenges. Supply chains have become global, resulting in complex networks. With access to more information customers have access and have become more demanding on issues such as quality or sustainability. This has led to an increased interest among different companies in improving their traceability capabilities. As this requires companies to collect data across their entire supply chain, new technologies are being explored to make this change happen. One of these new technologies is blockchain. It rose to fame in the financial industry, but it is certainly a topic of current interest in supply chain management as well. Blockchain is a way to store and share data in an immutable ledger by decentralizing consensus, without a central record-keeping authority. This thesis is about the use of blockchain in supply chain traceability use cases and the comparison between blockchain-enabled traceability systems and traditional, centralized systems. Through literature review and a case study, which involved expert interviews and a survey, the main research questions from this thesis was answered: Which food supply chain traceability use cases are suitable for the application of blockchain-enabled systems? In order to answer the main question, the following sub-questions were addressed: • What drives the demand for traceability in food supply chains? • How do traceability systems based on blockchain compare to centralized systems? • Which criteria make a use case suitable for blockchain technology? • Which challenges exist for successful traceability system implementation? Based on the literature review, many studies suggests that food safety and quality are the primary drivers for an increased attention to traceability. However these suggestions were not found in this study. The needs for traceability at Heineken are mainly related to consumer demands and operational efficiency. Sustainable or local sourcing and decreasing costs related to mismatched information between Heineken and its suppliers or customers are dominant elements in the case study. In these situations, trust in data integrity is critical, which leads to certain managers looking to increase their traceability capabilities. Next, blockchain traceability systems were compared against traditional, centralized systems to answer research the second research question. Blockchain systems outperform centralized systems on Transparency and Integrity, Trust and Data Quality. Although technologically the two implementations are distinct, it was found that in its usage the two are not that different. It was never mentioned that blockchain systems could fulfill use cases that traditional systems could not handle with regards to supply chain traceability. This study found that blockchain use cases in supply chains should adhere to the following criteria: • The network is decentralized, meaning it involves multi-tier suppliers and/or distributors. • A high degree of proof of integrity is required. • There is a desire to obtain a single view / version of the state of the system. • Data sovereignty is essential. These criteria were found to be most applicable to Product Provenance, Sustainable Sourcing or Product Recall use cases. This research focused on understanding the differences between centralized and blockchain-based traceability systems. It has shown that blockchain can provide value to modern supply chains, and that in its usage, it is not radically different from centralized systems. The research presents criteria to decision makers, which provide support in judging the need for blockchain in their applications and reviews the areas where these needs could be and which challenges this presents.","Blockchain; Supply Chain; Traceability","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:825cdcf5-f426-460f-b8d4-6c093e5d7547","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:825cdcf5-f426-460f-b8d4-6c093e5d7547","An experiment to evaluate the vices and opportunities of micro-targeted advertising in public policy","Leontaris, Manos (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Asghari, H. (mentor); Verma, T. (graduation committee); Warnier, Martijn (graduation committee); Dinkelman, Jaap (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The focus of this work is the creation and application of an experimental framework that tests the effectiveness and the impacts of micro-targeted ads. Micro-targeted ads have been used extensively by both political and retail carriers to sway peoples’ opinion, but there haven’t been any academic studies (in an environmentwhich is not controlled) that explore the impacts and the effects of micro-targeted ads. To this end the idea is to use a measurable variable (in this case the misplaced trash in The Hague) and throw generalized (non micro-targeted) ads along with micro-targeted ads, both of them aiming to reduce misplaced trash-bags. The ads will be sent to specific neighborhoods in The Hague through Facebook. The ad itself is considered a ""nudge""(an intervention that hints towards behavioral change without forcing it).","Micro-targeting; public policy; experiment","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4d681bc7-4a24-449c-9eed-f25ceea43216","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4d681bc7-4a24-449c-9eed-f25ceea43216","Drivers and barriers for floating wind: Towards a theoretical framework that aids complementors in purposefully and timely adopting niche strategies","de Vos, Niels (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Floating wind seems to be on the cusp of achieving large-scale diffusion with the commissioning of floating wind farms of commercial-scale. From a single full-scale prototype off the Norwegian coast in 2009, now to double digit rated capacity floating wind turbines to be commissioned by the end of 2022 and tens of gigawatts of installed capacity expected to be switched-on globally over the next decades. This can lead to fundamental changes in related industries and society, and the floating wind turbine is therefore considered a breakthrough technology. However, several designs of floating wind turbines have been invented, introduced and to some extent diffused in the floating wind market, while a dominant design has yet to emerge. The pattern of development and diffusion by Ortt & Schoormans (2004) is a widely adopted procedure that reveals how such a breakthrough technology may surpass consecutive phases that are characterized by distinct milestones prior to large-sale diffusion. This development and diffusion process may take on a lengthy and chaotic character in which large-scale diffusion of the breakthrough technology is blocked by barriers. Therefore, Ortt & Kamp (2019) developed a theoretical framework of core and influencing factors that serve as a prerequisite for large-scale diffusion of breakthrough technologies. To overcome or circumvent these barriers, the innovating company may adopt a niche strategy during the innovation phase to commercialize the technology, or to reintroduce the technology to the market after changing the physical aspects or the business model in order to better align the technology to the market during the market adaptation phase (Ortt, Langley, & Nico, 2013). Furthermore, niche strategies may be adopted to increase the knowledge and resources within the company, or to influence the broader technological innovation system by changing the behavior, opinion or perception of Suppliers, Customers or Institutions to gradually create or shape the niche market (Schulz, 2019). Thereby, the companies that developed the alternative designs of a floating wind turbine are well-guided in assessing the market and selecting a niche strategy accordingly. IHC IQIP is a supplier of equipment for the installation of reliable foundations and moorings in the offshore wind market and hence offers a unique set of knowledge, skills and competences to developed Complementary Products and Services – one of the core factors for large-scale diffusion - for the emerging floating wind market. Nevertheless, the perspective of a supplier of Complementary Products and Services and its strategic impact on the development and diffusion process has been largely neglected in the management and innovation literature. The theoretical objective of this thesis was therefore to create a better understanding about the mechanisms that drive market formation in a niche market where alternative designs of a breakthrough technology compete to achieve large-scale diffusion from the perspective of a so-called Complementor. In turn, the managerial objective was to develop a theoretical framework that aids managers in selecting a niche strategy to develop and diffuse Complementary Products and Services that are tailored to one or more designs in such a niche market.","Pattern of development and diffusion; large-scale diffusion; framework of core and influencing factors; niche strategies; floating wind","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2025-09-17","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3e595d78-726d-4c55-b59e-bf6695791e31","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3e595d78-726d-4c55-b59e-bf6695791e31","Comparative case study into the barriers that prevent QKD and Tokamak nuclear fusion power plants from large scale diffusion","Stam, B.C. (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Vermaas, P.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","This research has the aim to investigate the large pre-diffusion period for two
technologies: quantum cryptography and nuclear fusion power plants. Both technologies originate from basic physics research, have a high societal value and are a business to business product. First, a status overview of the technologies is given together with its principles and (dis)advantages. Hereafter, the high-tech products are positioned in a life cycle pattern and pre-defined factors that could create a barrier to large scale diffusion are investigated.
In the following chapters, other literature is investigated and different reasons for a long pre-diffusion period are explored. The literature that is used to determine the position in the life cycle pattern and investigation of factors, is critically reviewed and discussed. Different factors outside the existing framework are found that apply to the cases of quantum cryptography and nuclear fusion power plants. Additionally, a bias due to the telecom industry data that has been used to build the framework has been observed in different aspects of the diffusion theory.
This research is conducted by the means of a comparative case study, including a literature review and the opinion of an expert.
The final delivery of this research is a proposition for an extended diffusion theory and a thorough discussion on validity and decision making within the framework. In this proposition the diffusion theory is extended with additional factors: type of funding, potential misuse of a technology, competition, managing expectations and a case specific factor. The current and additional factors are categorized into different types of factors. Additionally, a distinction between niche applications, innovations and split-offs in the life cycle pattern is made and discussed. Finally, notes on the validity of the assessment of factors are given.
According to the literature, there are three different modes of standardization processes, namely: committee-based, market-based, and government-based standardization. Based on the involvement of various actors in the standardization processes, the concept of multi-mode standardization was introduced in the literature. The case of charging standards related to V2G technology involves actors from various domains indicating the potential case of multi-mode standardization. While the three charging standards are still in the early phases of the battle, it is imperative to analyze the factors that could influence the standardization of charging standards. Hence, the main research question for this research was framed: ""What are the factors that influence the success of charging standards in the context of multi-mode standardization in the European market for the implementation of V2G technology?"". The factors influencing success within the case of multi-mode standardization were recently introduced into the literature. A thorough literature review was carried out to identify a total of 39 influential factors within various case studies of multi-mode standardization. And it resulted in the proposition of a new framework for further analysis in this research. With the combination of a literature review and interview with the experts, 35 factors were found to be relevant. Further, a Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tool known as the ‘Best Worst Method (BWM)’ approach was used to rank the factors based on expert’s preferences. A total of seven interviews were conducted to allocate weights for each factor using the BWM approach to rank the factors. The experts belonged to academic as well as industrial backgrounds. The results of the analysis showed that the factors ‘brand reputation and credibility’, ‘compatibility’, ‘financial strength’, ‘bandwagon effect’, and ‘lobbying’ ended up being the top five influential factors in this research. While there were two groups of interviewees, a set of two different statistical tests were performed to analyze the significant differences between the results obtained from the two groups of experts. The weight of the factor ‘delay in the standardization process’ was found to be significantly different among the two groups. Hence, this factor was not considered for listing the influential factors.
Compared to the previous framework in the literature, a set of ten factors were added to the framework constructed during this research. The new factors were found to be indeed relevant in the standardization of charging standards. It was also observed for the first time in the BWM literature that a total of 35 factors were found to be relevant. Researchers can use the new framework for analyzing the factors influencing standards battle in different domains. Also, the BWM approach was used for the first time to identify success factors in the selection of charging standards for the implementation of V2G technology. Additionally, the articles that discussed success factors previously in literature from the market perspective were re-analyzed to explore the concept of multi-mode standardization for the first time. Out of ten reviewed articles, eight articles were recategorized to a relevant combination of multi-mode standardization. Moreover, empirical evidence was found for the factors that were considered to be relevant in the third phase of technology dominance. Additionally, it was also found for the first time that a few factors believed to be crucial in the fourth phase of technology dominance were found to be essential already in the third phase of standards battle between charging standards. The statistical analysis tests used in this research can also be used where there are more than two experts involved in the application of the BWM. Finally, the results obtained in this research provide empirical evidence to assign weights to the relevant factors and analyze the importance of those weights to explain their influence in the standardization using the BWM approach.
From a managerial point of view, a few practical contributions were also made during this research. The technology managers can use the proposed framework for the selection of charging standards globally in the future. The combination of the proposed framework and the BWM approach can be used to analyze technologies within similar domains in a situation of multi-mode standardization. The identified factors in the framework can be used to define strategies by the technological managers in the market to gain an edge over competitors in the market. Furthermore, the newly introduced factors in the proposed framework influence the members of the committees and help them to arrive at a consensus in standard development organizations. These factors can not only be validated by the technology managers but also by the committee members representing other aspects in the process of technology standardization. The proposed framework can be modified by the addition of new factors based on the relevance in the technology battle. With the increasing number of startups in the market, the framework can act as a guidance tool for entrepreneurs to analyze, validate and evaluate various factors that could influence the standardization of their product in the market.","Standards battles; Vehicle-to-Grid; Multi-mode standardization; Best Worst Method; Success factors; EV Charging standards; CHAdeMO; CCS Combo; Tesla Supercharger; Phases of technology dominance; V2G; Mann-Whitney U test; Independent sample T test","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d01d9654-6279-4951-b87c-7ced21f44373","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d01d9654-6279-4951-b87c-7ced21f44373","Design of a blockchain-based platform to support the availability of Entry Summary Declarations to European Customs","di Benedetto, Matteo (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ubacht, J. (mentor); Tan, Y. (graduation committee); Maknoon, M.Y. (graduation committee); Rukanova, B.D. (graduation committee); Hofman, Wout (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","To ensure safety and security of imported goods, customs authorities perform risk assessment on incoming goods. European customs use declaration data provided by traders to execute risk analysis. Lacking availability of this data to customs authorities currently hinders proper risk management and poses threats for the European socio-economy. To solve this issue, this research analysed how Blockchain, an emerging and promising technology, could solve the issue at hand. Using a design-oriented approach, the process to be supported was analysed, the requirements were elicited, and the core blockchain components were identified. This was instrumental to develop a blockchain-based platform to support the availability of declarations data to customs authorities. The feasibility of the designed platform was evaluated through a comparison with TradeLens, an existing supply chain platform underpinned by blockchain technology, and possible implementation issues were identified by using a blockchain governance framework. The platform design contributes to the import control system implementation and research on blockchain technology. The next step is the development of a Proof-of-concept to analyse whether the designed platform supports the process at stake.","Blockchain; Governance; Design-Oriented Research; Import Control System; Customs Risk Assessment; Customs Autorithy; Global Trade; Entry Summary Declaration","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:08e2936a-fa22-44bc-a83b-5315a5642449","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:08e2936a-fa22-44bc-a83b-5315a5642449","Cloud Computing Solutions and Business Model Innovation: A case study in the financial services industry","Frisardi, Davide (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Hakvoort, R.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The rise of the so called Insurtechs, leveraging digital technologies to offer superior and personalized offerings, has shaken the insurance industry leading to a new age of innovation and business models. In addition, the importance of a digital customer experience is increasing as the number of sales completed online are rising. Customers expect wide availability of personalized options and offerings tailored to their specific risk scenarios. Traditional insurers should react fast to face the threat of new players and remain competitive in this fast-paced market environment. A customer-centric approach to digitalization is required to meet demanding requests from customers while targeting benefits including financial flexibility, lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), speed to market, and availability of information anywhere and at any time. Concurrently, the rise of cloud computing technologies spark interests in traditional players that have an opportunity to tackle these challenges by transforming their IT infrastructure to generate value for clients while substantially improving the enterprise’s operations. The aim of this document is to inspire the management to perceive the need for innovation and structural change and provide them with the tools and key recommendations to tackle the challenge. Besides, the literature is lacking contents weighting the cloud computing advantages in the insurance industry and exploring the business model’s innovations necessary to welcome the use of the cloud. Hence, the additional goal of this research, is to address this gap and explore the barriers hindering cloud adoption in the financial services industry together with the mitigation strategies expected to reduce such risk factors.","Cloud Computing; business model innovation; Insurance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:954099d2-93ca-429f-9571-e74172b9563c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:954099d2-93ca-429f-9571-e74172b9563c","Could climbing up Maslow's pyramid help us solve the world's environmental problems?: A study of the impact of human development from material to non-material needs on the environment","Karathozhuvu Suresh, Ashwini (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Naastepad, C.W.M. (mentor); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Slinger, J (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Our planet is witnessing an unprecedented increase in temperature that is causing frequent damages such as extreme weather conditions, acidification of oceans and extinction of species that may soon become irreparable. Various studies have reported that greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from human activities in industries that produce 'material goods' like transportation, energy, manufacturing and agriculture have been the chief drivers of the climate change crisis. Even as greener and renewable energy technologies are increasingly being adopted, since consumption of material goods in the rich parts of the world continue to increase, it may not be enough to solve the environmental problems in time. However, we may be able to solve them by adopting a different way of living. In order to do so, we need to understand the purpose of the economy. According to Aristotle, Eudaimonia or the 'good life’ which is the full development of human capabilities or virtues is the ultimate end of human life and the purpose of the economy or the production and consumption of material goods by people are simply a means towards this ultimate end. A similar idea that human beings have an ultimate end towards which all actions are directed can also be found with the more popularly known Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This essentially means that human beings need material wealth only insofar that it supports the fulfilment of their non-material needs: the development of capacities/virtues. 'Non-material' can refer to needs such as enjoying a classical dance performance, or studying philosophy or engaging in therapy. This perspective allows us to rethink growth in terms of a shift from material to non-material needs, which could also help solve the world's environmental problems as long as non-material needs can be met in less polluting ways (as compared to how material needs are met). Following this, economic activities are classified as physical (or goods-producing) or non-physical. Activities in the physical economy meet material needs and have a higher potential for productivity growth. Activities in the non-physical economy, including health care, education, research and arts, meet non-material needs and have a lower potential for productivity growth since human work is generally the final output. Based on this classification, it is observed that, in the advanced economies, the share of the physical economy in total demand is getting smaller, while the share of the non-physical economy is getting bigger over time, reflecting human development from material to non-material growth. If the non-physical economy − which consists mainly of human work such as a doctor's advice, a lesson, a concert − is relatively less polluting, such a shift could mean good news for the environment. While this looks promising, a consequence of the lower potential for productivity growth in the non-physical economy is that their activities can be expensive. Baumol (1993), termed this the 'cost disease' and argued that people in the rich parts of the world can afford the expensive 'personal services' when funds resulting from the productivity gains in the physical economy (due to labour-saving innovations) are transferred to the non-physical economy. Yet, nowadays, the standard response to the 'cost disease' is to replace human work with technology through standardisation, computerisation and robotisation of hitherto human tasks as a way to minimise costs. Due to the nature of work in the non-physical economy, the growing technology/ material-intensity can affect the quality of the non-material value created, while it may also increase the pressure on the environment. This led me to investigate the impact of the rising technology-intensity in the non-physical economy on the quality of outcome and on the environment. One of the main activities in the non-physical economy, health care, is 'an art and a science' in the sense that it takes care of the health of a human being in order to enable him to develop intellectually and psychologically and it is not just about 'fixing' what is broken. Doctors, therapists and nurses are people who possess besides clinical knowledge, interpersonal skills such as understanding and empathy to carry out complex human interactions with patients. Yet, in recent times, especially in the United States, technologies such as electronic health records (EHR), e-prescribing, tele-medicine and health apps are increasingly being adopted to displace some of the creative work performed by health care professionals. The main drivers of such trends identified are: the privatisation of health care, the systems of 'Managed Care' and government measures such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 that allocated funds to incorporate health information technologies in health care facilities across the country. Some of the common experiences found with the adoption of technology in health care are: a supplier-induced demand for drugs and medical technologies due to a 'fee-for-service' payment model for doctors, a 'technology arms race' between hospitals and ‘direct-to-consumer’ advertising of medicines and medical technologies. Some of the consequences of these trends found are: unnecessary testing leading to increased overall health care costs, 'physician deskilling' due to decreased clinical knowledge and psychological and health implications for patients due to less physician-patient interactions and more 'end-of-pipe' solutions. From a brief review, it is also found that the health care system in Canada is less technology-/material-intensive than the health care system in the U.S. with (roughly) the same quality of service which shows that different kinds of health care systems can coexist with one another. A second activity of the non-physical economy, education, is one that enhances the intellectual and spiritual development of students, guided by a curriculum. According to various studies, teachers are indispensable in this activity in terms of their personal knowledge, their pedagogical capacities and their ability to instill curiosity, enthusiasm, sympathy, and morality in students through complex and dynamic interactions. Yet, similar to health care, even the creative work of teachers are being displaced with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as: talent management software, digital learning technologies, MOOCs, allegedly to improve quality of education. In the United States, some of the trends commonly found to promote such technologies are: a pay-for-performance model for teachers to improve productivity of student grades, a common core standard curriculum and standardized tests for students to get them ready for college and careers. Some of the consequences of the growing technology intensity in education are found to be: teacher deskilling, lack of evidence of improved student performances and psychological implications for students such as diminished social skills, lack of creative and original thinking etc. These findings suggest that the growing technology-intensity in health care and education may have not significantly improved the quality of service provided, especially since the nature of work in these activities are different. Besides this, they could also lead to a higher environmental burden. In this thesis, I investigate whether the latter is the case, which is done in two steps. First, I investigate whether the non-physical economy is less polluting than the physical economy. Next, I examine the environmental consequences of the rising technology-intensity of the non-physical economy. The empirical research method applied is the Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EE-IO) analysis, which is used to compute the direct and indirect environmental effects of the physical and the non-physical economy. Direct effects refer to the pollution recorded at the place where it arises (for example, emissions due to health care). Indirect effects refer to the pollution caused by industries that supply inputs to health care, and for which the health care sector (as sector of use) is (indirectly) responsible. Through an EE-IO analysis, environmental effects (such as emissions) are ascribed to the sector of use, by reallocating emissions from the sector where they originate (sector of origin) to the sector that uses the goods or services supplied by this sector. The EE-IO analysis makes use of an Input-Output (I-O) table which records intermediate deliveries of goods and services between sectors in an economy, as well as each sector's deliveries to final demand. In addition, it uses the environmental accounts of each sector to compute the total emissions for which a sector can be held responsible, which consist of its own (direct) emissions plus the emissions that are related to the inputs it purchases from other industries. The two equations that guide this computation are B=b*(1-A)¯¹ and E=B*f where B= a vector of total (direct+indirect) emission intensities (per sector); b=direct emission intensity vector; (1-A)¯¹= the 'Leontief Inverse matrix' (derived from an I-O table) that represents the technical coefficients or the total (direct+indirect) inputs required per unit of a sector's output; f=final demand and E=a vector of total (direct + indirect) emissions per sector for a given level of final demand f. The results found were that the non-physical economy in the United States is less polluting in terms of global warming and acidification potential, energy use and tropospheric ozone gas emissions, even if emissions are re-allocated from sector of origin to sector of use. This result suggests that the impact on the environment will be lower if human beings become increasingly interested in non-material rather than material growth. However, this result may not come about if the non-physical economy gets more technology-intensive. To empirically investigate the increase in technology-intensity in health care and its corresponding environmental burden, two comparative studies based on the EE-IO analysis were carried out. The first one compared the health care system in the United States between 1995 and 2015. After adjusting both I-O tables for inflation (using Miller & Blair’s (2009) ""double deflation"" method) and regrouping them for comparable sector classifications, it is shown that the health care sector's technical (Leontief inverse) coefficients increased for 'computer, electronic & optical equipment', 'post & telecommunications', 'electricity & water supply', and 'renting & other business services' − indicating that the technology- or material-intensity (in terms of medical technology, ICT, administrative technology) as well as the electricity-intensity of health care increased from 1995 to 2015. Although the use of 'chemicals & pharmaceutical products' in the health care sector itself decreased, final demand for chemicals & pharmaceuticals per capita almost doubled between 1995 and 2015. In sum, the results found showed that technology/material-intensity in terms of ICT, medical technologies, energy use per unit of output and medicines per capita increased from 1995 to 2015. These data support, or at least do not falsify, the hypothesis of a trend towards higher technology-intensity of health care. However, the result for the environmental burden of the increased technology-intensity was found to be mixed. Firstly, total CO2 emission intensity of health care and the indirect contribution from 'post & telecommunications', 'computer, electronic & optical equipment' and 'renting & other business services' decreased from 1995 to 2015, largely due to an economy-wide switch to less carbon-intensive sources of energy. Although the shift from coal to natural gas reduced CO2 emissions, it also led to other types of environmental problems, such as those associated with increased production of shale gas. Secondly, the indirect emission contribution from 'electricity & water supply' industry to health care's carbon intensity increased due to the increase in energy use per unit of output (possibly due to increased use of medical equipment and other technologies in hospitals). This also led to higher total (direct+indirect) emissions from the health care sector in 2015 than in 1995 for the respective levels of final demand. Therefore, as long as the technology-intensity of health care keeps rising, this is likely to involve rising pressure on the environment (not only in terms of emissions but also in terms of increased use of earth's finite resources). The second study compared the health care system in the United States with the health care system in Canada for the year 2014. The results showed that the U.S. health care sector's technical coefficients were higher than those of Canada's health care for the relevant sectors examined in the previous study. This shows that U.S. health care is more technology-/ material-intensive in terms of medicines, medical technology, ICT and administrative technology than Canada's health care while reliance on human work is lower. Next, the total (direct+indirect) carbon-intensity of U.S. health care was also found to be higher than that of Canada's health care. This is mainly because the indirect emission contribution from sectors, namely, 'chemical & pharmaceuticals', 'renting & other business services', 'electricity & water supply' 'computer programming & information services' to health care are higher in the U.S.. However, the indirect emission contribution from sectors 'telecommunications' and 'computer, electronic & optical products' are found to be lower in the U.S. (in spite of a higher use of their goods per unit of output), possibly due to a lower carbon-intensity of these two sectors in the U.S. than in Canada. All in all, the important insight from these two studies is that even though increased purchase of medicines, ICT and related medical & administrative technologies by health care activities in the U.S. between 1995 and 2015 has not led to higher total CO2 emission intensity of health care, we know that as of 2014, high-tech health care in the U.S. is still more polluting than Canada's health care. This supports the argument that replacement of human work with technological solutions in the non-physical economy may lead to a higher environmental burden. In conclusion, since there is lack of conclusive evidence that the promotion of general, country-wide transition to high-tech health care (or education and arts) reduces costs while improving quality and reducing environmental burden, it may be desirable that free choice of technology in the non-physical economy is encouraged. The resulting diversity, or mix of low-tech and high-tech approaches in health care, education, arts, etc. would be less polluting than a linear high-tech approach in the non-physical economy, while leaving providers as well as recipients of services in the non-physical economy free to explore different technological paths.","Climate change; Eudaimonia; health IT; EEIOA","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c05b1f17-866a-4e7d-986f-a99ef15b4c1c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c05b1f17-866a-4e7d-986f-a99ef15b4c1c","A framework to find applications for organic molecules","van Mullem, Jesse (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (mentor); de Haan, A.B. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Innovation is an important determinant for success in a fast changing world. For innovation to take place, scientific knowledge that has a proven working principle needs to find an application. The process in which applications are generated or identified has been identified as an important aspect of the innovation process. However, scientific literature on application generation or identification is underdeveloped. The aim of this thesis was to develop a framework to generate or identify applications for organic molecules in a systematic way. This has been formulated into a research question as “Can a framework be developed to systematically search for applications for organic molecules?”. Before this framework for organic molecules was developed, first a general framework to generate or identify applications for technology was created. Apart from the main research question, three sub research questions are answered in this research: Can a framework to systematically search for applications for technology be developed? How can such a framework be translated to a framework for organic molecules? How can this/these framework(s) be validated? The framework was created using a design approach. The thesis draws on interviews with experts, scientific literature on application generation/identification frameworks and a discussion with experts. In the preliminary literature study, the notion that the literature on the subject of application generation or identification is underdeveloped was confirmed. The available literature provided insufficient base to build this thesis, so a design approach was taken as alternative. The first step in this approach was a series of interviews with experts on innovation and application generation/identification. With the data from these interviews, a first version of the general framework was created. This first version was validated and improved by comparing it to frameworks from literature, by conducting a second series of interviews and by a discussion with experts. The next step envisioned in the research was a translation of the general framework into a framework that can be used to generate or identify applications for organic molecules. A start was made on the translation of the framework by providing methods that can be used in subsequent research to translate the framework. The translation chapter used information from the second series of interviews as a starting point. Following this research, four recommendations were made for future research project. The first recommendation is to further develop the framework created in this research project, for example by exploring creativity methods. Secondly, it is recommended to conduct a full systematic literature review, using the vocabulary learned throughout this thesis. Thirdly, the framework created in this thesis should be translated. Before translation can take place, it has to be researched what the best method for this translation is. The translation methods provided in this thesis could be used. Alternatively, new methods for translation could be devised and implemented. Finally, in future research, several concept used in this research should be defined more carefully. Obtaining more clear and workable definitions for these concept will decrease the ambiguity of future research using these concepts. In conclusion, in this thesis, a framework to systematically generate or identify applications for technology (or rather, a concept in between scientific knowledge and technology) has been developed. Recommendations have been provided on how this framework could be further improved. On top of that, this research proposes methods for translation of this framework into a framework to systematically generate or identify applications for organic molecules. The actual translation has to take place in subsequent research.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a6fbf53d-7175-4b2f-8a4f-f8730a4940b2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a6fbf53d-7175-4b2f-8a4f-f8730a4940b2","Aircraft Specific Carbon Emission Calculations For Air Freight Transportation: A Systematic Approach to Model Development to Promote Sustainable Purchasing and Green Market Positioning at PostNL","Chaturvedi, Rishabh (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hartmann, L. (mentor); Fens, T.W. (graduation committee); Roling, P.C. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Commercial greenhouse gas emissions from aviation are proliferating, as is the concern among freight carriers to minimize their carbon footprint. From a corporate point of view, the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) expects aircraft emissions to triple by 2050, with aviation accounting for 25% of the world's carbon budget . While ICAO and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) release annual overview statistics on the aviation industry and its related business economy, relatively few research data on fuel consumption, fuel quality and carbon emissions are available at global and regional levels, respectively. Policymakers and top decision-makers at transportation and logistics companies such as PostNL cannot determine the exact amount of carbon emissions associated with departing flights and needs a more robust model to determine marginal emissions due to cargo freight. To solve this problem, the research predominantly aims to answer the following research question: ""How can PostNL be facilitated in calculating aircraft specific carbon emission factors, which can be used for accounting purposes, to promote sustainable purchasing and green market positioning?"". Using empirical data from public, private-owned confidential data sets, and the PianoX aircraft emissions modeling, this research outlines a consistent and globally dispersed methodology for estimating CO2 emissions for air freight. An extensive review of the literature was carried out in the field of the emergence of ""Sustainability Concept"" and antecedent research in the Netherlands. This was followed by evaluating the current situation and the emergence of the supply chain processes. The study also describes and analyzes the operational process at PostNL and discusses the current methodology used at PostNL, i.e. DEFRA method for carbon emission calculation. Later, the flaws in the model were evaluated and addressed. Based on the review of the literature on antecedent research and the analysis of different carbon emissions calculation methodologies being used internationally in various institutions, a method was proposed for the calculation of Co2 emissions due to air freight. In order to measure commercial fuel consumption, many publicly available data sources were collected and incorporated with Piano X, an aircraft performance and design platform from Lissys Ltd. The data on the fuel-burning process and projected Co2 emissions were then compared and validated with the ICAO dataset and later implemented in the model proposed. This was followed by the creation of a conceptual simulation and optimization model build using VBA in Excel, which helps the company in making data-driven air transport procurement decisions taking into account tradeoffs between carbon emission, lead time, and cost to gain a strategic business advantage. Strategic goals were broken down into the priorities of the individual divisions at PostNL, expressed with the goal values of the lead time and the performance metrics for cargo costs. A graphical comparison was followed with the EU ETS datasets and the DEFRA datasets to compare and correlate the results obtained using the proposed methodology. The result also helps PostNL drive business sustainability in their partnerships while maintaining their flexibility and bargaining power with suppliers. The limitations and errors with the research were acknowledged in the areas of uncertainty due to the use of publically available information and the absence of the inclusion of dynamically changing time-dependent variables, including privately owned airline data. It was also concluded that logistics companies such as PostNL should always bear in mind that, often drastically, the logistics networks may shift. New ways of doing business, such as coopetition and better modeling, can help to increase effectiveness. Scenario planning and better business management approaches will have an advantage in improving the transportation and logistics industry to face the demands of the future and become ever more competitive and sustainable.
Starting with an analysis of the literature on knowledge, knowledge management and software usability, this thesis proposes a set of guidelines to improve the usability of Enterprise Systems.
The methodology combines qualitative and quantitative elements, with two rounds of interviews and two questionnaires. The first round of interviews explored the needs of users, while the second round validated each guideline individually. The two surveys were instead sent before and after the implementation of the guidelines in order to measure their impact. The questionnaire used for this procedure is the Software Usability Measurement Inventory, the industry standard to evaluate software usability.
This thesis is a qualitative research and, as such, it is characterised by low external validity. Its most relevant limitation is the fact that it is based on one single case study. However, the methodology followed a strong combination of interviews and analytical surveys, which strengthened the results with a deep qualitative analysis and statistical significance of the findings.
Future research could replicate the same procedure in different companies or via another questionnaire to test the validity of the guidelines. Furthermore, this thesis did not differentiate users based on their software skills, which is an interesting variable that could be investigated.","Enterprise system; Software Usability; knowledge management system; knowledge management; collaborative work","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d2550914-5a4f-4dfb-a687-a4768b5b8cc1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d2550914-5a4f-4dfb-a687-a4768b5b8cc1","Data-Driven Project Management (DDPM) in the Construction Industry: An Exploratory Study","Öcalan, N.Y. (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Vermaas, P.E. (graduation committee); Sen, Serkan (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","With the increasing amounts of data generated from various sources, companies are now aware of the data-driven applications more than ever. In the built environment, building or infrastructural projects are handed over as end-product and these projects are complex. Thus, this data disturbance requires multiple ways of project management practices. The study aims to explore the current state and future uses of data-driven technologies in the construction domain by identifying different project components from the project management stance. The proposed research includes a desk research for data-driven activities in the construction industry and a single case-study methodology which is supported by interviews and a focus group discussion. The study results reveal the importance of each project component on transforming data into information and standards in order to fully implement the technology for different project purposes. Therefore, the research contributes to developing a body of knowledge on data-driven construction management methods by identifying the status quo and serves a starting point for construction managers and researchers regarding data-driven approach.","Project Management; Data-driven Approach; Construction Projects; Case Study; Project Information; Project Components","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4ef1c5ba-f999-4575-a36e-84fbf90da571","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4ef1c5ba-f999-4575-a36e-84fbf90da571","The added value of having multiple options to travel to: A case study in Spain","Parra Lopez, Maria del Mar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, G.P. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (mentor); Rook, L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Improving accessibility has become one of the main objectives for policymakers in the transport and urban field. Having access to activities and people is essential to ensure the proper functioning of societies and it affects people’s quality of life. One of the remaining challenges in this field is related with the economics of accessibility, in particular, with the monetary quantification of the added value of having multiple options available to travel to. Accessibility indicators and current theory suggest that having more options available is translated into higher levels of accessibility. However, the benefits of increasing the number of alternatives is subjected to the law of diminishing returns, that is, the added value provided by each additional option decreases as more options are available. Therefore, the main research question of this thesis is: How much are individuals willing to pay for having different quantity of options of the same destination (e.g., a supermarket) to travel to? The research methodology proposed to answer this research question consists on a preliminary research and two different questionnaires. The study area of this research is a small Spanish city, located in the province of Albacete. The aim of the preliminary research is to gather information about the context and the culture of this study area. In this way, data about sociodemographic characteristics of the population, the location and current number of destinations or perceptions about current services has been searched. The non-market nature of the services to be analysed makes Stated Preference approaches the best methods to elicit monetary values. However, due to the novelty of the research, a first exploratory questionnaire was designed to obtain a first sight of the citizens’ opinion about the importance that they give to have multiple options of the same destination, which factors they value most, or what are the main reasons why they value having several options. After that, the second questionnaire was elaborated using a particular Contingent Valuation Method, namely Payment Cards, whose objective is to elicit monetary values for different hypothetical situations in which the supply of the service varies. Both questionnaires were distributed online in order to reach the highest number of respondents. The results show that people prefer to have more options of basic services, such as food stores, pharmacies, schools or medical centres, than non-essential services like gyms, hairdressers or clothe shops Moreover, proximity is considered an important factor just for basic services, while variety is more appreciated for secondary ones, so that people can choose the one that best suits their likings. After analysing the results from the first questionnaire and applying other relevant criteria, two final destinations were chosen to be further analysed in the second questionnaire, namely, kindergartens and primary health centres. Results show that, in the case of kindergartens, more than half of the respondents are willing to pay extra 12€ per month (median value) for expanding current services in case the demand increases, whereas just 8€ to remain in the status quo in the hypothetical situation in which demand holds or decreases. At first sight this result may seem the opposite to the concept of loss aversion, but when placed in context it may be reasonable that citizens are not willing to pay for keeping open empty kindergartens. Furthermore, the results showed that not all the respondents are willing to pay the same amounts, resulting in significant differences among respondents who are users, have been in the past, or will probably be in the future, and those who have no children, prefer private kindergartens or simply do not make use of the service. On the other hand, there is no such a difference between users, option users and non-users in the case of medical centres. All the three groups present a mean WTP value of 50€ per year for expanding current services. One possible explanation is that everyone is a potential user of this service, even if they do not currently use it. Therefore, option values would probably be high for option and non-users, being willing to pay the same amounts than regular users. Also, non-use values may play a key role. It is important to mention that there is not a significant difference in the values reported when considering the two possible alternatives proposed to expand the service. Although finishing a second medical centre is more expensive than extending current schedule, people is not willing to pay more for it. After reflecting on all the findings obtained and place them in the context of the study area, it can be concluded that sometimes it is not only the number of options itself what citizens appreciate (and are willing to pay for), but many other factors should be taken into account. For instance, for public services, the amount of destinations can be subjected to political strategies such as increasing the number of services even if they are not needed. Moreover, people may prefer to have less options with high service quality, than more options with poorer quality. Finally, for private destinations in which people’s preferences play a key role, the particular characteristics of each new (or removed) option will influence the total value for each individual. Thanks to this research, policymakers are better informed to make decisions about public services, avoiding unnecessary costs and allocating public funds more efficiently. In the particular case of this research, information to make future decisions is provided for different scenarios. For example, in case the demand for primary health services increases, policymakers should extend current schedule, as it is cheaper than opening a new centre and people value both alternatives in the same way . Moreover, current managers and future entrepreneurs can obtain useful insights for running their businesses. The results from the questionnaires show which factors are more appreciated for each type of destination, in addition to the citizens’ perception about the current number of options available, making it easily to identify market opportunities. Finally, several interesting future research avenues are proposed to further explore about this topic. For instance, the research can be replicated in other contexts with different cultural factors to see whether people’s preferences vary. Moreover, more sophisticated methods can be applied to estimate how much are individuals willing to pay. Finally, it would be very interesting to analyse private and non-essential destinations in order to compare whether the results differ and empirically test the hypothesis derived from the first questionnaire.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:02706c7f-fe46-49d5-90e9-b50ab8d0a60e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:02706c7f-fe46-49d5-90e9-b50ab8d0a60e","Developing a firm's external corporate venturing capability through strategic CSR","Yasmin Aruni, Yasmin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Established firms need to go beyond their core business in order to survive rapid technological and market changes, which can be achieved through external corporate venturing (ECV) or the creation of new business external to the firm. This approach requires a firm to develop relevant capabilities. Existing research on capability development focus on learning-by-doing, an approach that exposes firm to the risk of failure and loss. Thus, this study argues that a less risky approach to ECV capability development is needed. One possible tool that can be used is strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) that is designed according to a firm’s intention. In this context, CSR initiative can be used as a learning ground to develop a firm’s ECV capability without the typical pressure and constraints of a commercial project. The premise is explored by conducting a single case study of a startup competition held by an established ICT company in Indonesia that partners with three public universities. In this study, fifteen propositions on how strategic CSR can facilitate and support a firm’s development of ECV capability are developed, accompanied by potential challenges and solutions identified from both case study and literature study. By integrating ECV capability development and strategic CSR, a firm can achieve two objectives with one action while nurturing positive relationship with stakeholders.","external corporate venturing; strategic CSR; dynamic capabilities; capability development; developing country","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:60a77dd9-3994-47af-b08e-b19c37e8c398","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:60a77dd9-3994-47af-b08e-b19c37e8c398","The Giant Leap toward AIoT at Scale: Exploring the barriers to scaling Artificial Intelligence of Things","Kuğuoğlu, Kaan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (graduation committee); Hoevers, Daan (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The powerful convergence of AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), or Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) in short, is no longer on the horizon; it has already arrived. By combining AI’s ability to quickly wring insights from data and the ever-growing network of connected devices and systems that generate data, companies can avoid unplanned downtime, increase operating efficiency, and enable new and enhanced products and services. Put simply, IoT acts as a digital nervous system in which AI is the brain that drives decisions. Despite the promise of AI and IoT, many organizations’ efforts to scale up seems to fall short. Companies generally start by testing the waters with a proof-of-concept and pilot project, often later grinding to halt with no clearly defined strategy to scale for a variety of reasons. By combining extensive literature study of more than 200 academic papers, 11 expert interviews, and an exploratory case study, the research explores the underlying reason why most AIoT initiatives fail to scale up by investigating four main aspects, namely the barriers to scale up, the cross-industry differences, the temporal variances, and the potential strategies for companies to escape from the “pilot purgatory.” The study reaches to an exhaustive list of 22 factors, classifying the factors into five main categories: strategy (AI/I4.0 strategy, competing investment opportunities, and technology partners), data (data quality and availability, data governance, data security and privacy, data analytics capabilities), people (top management support, user support/resistance, technology sponsors/champions, skilled staff and expertise, technology knowledge, organizational culture, organizational agility, organizational structure, and alignment between departments), process (perceived business benefits, business models/use cases and operating models), and technology (ICT capabilities and infrastructure, integration with other systems, and technology characteristics). The study also reveals that some factors tend to be more influential in certain stages. While strategic factors tend to be more prominent in the earlier stages, people and organizational factors tend to arise later when organizations roll out solutions. The research also confirmed the dominant role of top management and technology sponsors in igniting as well as leading the scale-up process. Albeit limited, two main variables stood out as cross-industry differences: regulations and digital maturity of the industry. In the study, three big points emerged as the potential strategies for companies to eliminate, or at least mitigate, the barriers. These are proof-of-value, not proof of concept, treating and managing data as a key business asset, and top-down and bottom-up support. As opposed to proving the feasibility of the technology, as many have before, organizations can start by assessing the technology from the business lens way to identify high-value use cases and prove the real value -if there is one. The research shows that companies require to pay utmost attention to collecting, structuring, and managing their data, even before initiating AIoT projects. The study discovers that the support from all levels -executive sponsorship from the top, and ensuring user acceptance and upskilling employees on the frontline- is essential to scale up, as it likely is for most digital transformations.","Artificial Intelligence; Internet of Things; Artificial Intelligence of Things; AI; IoT; AIoT; Barriers to scale up; Adoption; Strategy; Case Study","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","51.9963° N, 4.3759° E"
"uuid:31b633d7-ee1a-43d6-9e0b-4fea4c3c0545","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:31b633d7-ee1a-43d6-9e0b-4fea4c3c0545","Personalized Dyadic Chatbot Conversations: The influence of human and chatbot personality on customer satisfaction within the e-commerce domain","Ciovati, Andrea (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Chatbots have been considered as one of the leading technologies in the e-commerce domain as virtual shopping assistants able to guide customers throughout the entire shopping experience automatically. However, this technology is currently registering a high failure rate, and several users are still skeptical of its effectiveness. One of the reasons for this low performance lies in the fact that chatbots have a poor human-likeness that negatively influences customer perception of the technology. Secondly, the low level of personalization does not allow for tailored services based on customers’ needs and requirements. Previous studies discovered that it is possible to attach specific personality traits to chatbots in order to increase their human-likeness. Besides, other researchers have discovered the importance of service personalization as a distinctive requirement for successful e-commerce businesses. Depending on consumers’ decision-making behaviour, scientists have found that different services lead to different levels of customer satisfaction. The present study explored the two sides of Human-Computer Interaction with the final aim of understanding how to better align chatbot personality with human decision-making personality. Two different chatbot personalities (neutral and extravert) were created and randomly assigned to different users. During the experiment, participants had to complete a real chatbot conversation focused on dress shoes and were asked to conduct a post-interaction questionnaire to assess their satisfaction. Results showed that it is possible to effectively attach an extravert personality into a chatbot conversation through the use of language, emoticons and GIFs. Moreover, participants with different personal decision-making behaviour and gender registered different levels of customer satisfaction. Finally, the chatbot neutral personality registered different level of customer satisfaction depending on gender and personal decision-making behaviour. These findings support the literature by analyzing the complementary relationship between chatbot and human personalities. Future studies could use these findings to develop chatbot experiences that better fit with customer needs and requirements.","Chatbot; Personality; Maximization; Human-Computer Interaction","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1d8831ed-7985-4980-91fa-b7c243e126e1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1d8831ed-7985-4980-91fa-b7c243e126e1","Language Inquiry for Personalized Mental Health Chatbots","Mazza, Maria Chiara (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Anxiety is one of the most widespread and dangerous mental health disorders in developed and underdeveoped countries, affecting a wide number of college students all over the world. If not correctly treated in time, it might procure irreparable damages in people’s life, leading to drastic consequenses such as depression and suicidal intentions. However, although some students seek for medical consultation, only one quarter of them is able to have access to clinical treatments. At the same time, chatting apps gradually became a new communication trend during the last few years, resulting in the development of a new cutting-edge technology named conversational agents. After several studies, this technology has been found to be a possible solution for the healthcare imparity between demand and supply. With this invention, students might have the possibility to chat with a sort of “online therapist” anywhere and anytime they feel the need, without stigma or judgement barriers. In order to successfully implement these conversational agents, the therapeutic alliance between the doctor and the patient should be recreated as accurately as possible. Personality seems to be an important factor for the success and eventual satisfaction in the whole treatment. The present research – through LIWC software – explores the extent to which students use different linguistic patterns in an expressive writing task depending on their personality and mental health status. This study hypothesized that students sufffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) use different words than mentally stable students, and that their linguistic patterns are further influenced by their behavioral activation or inhibition systems. The main findings were in line with these two hypotheses. Based on the results, both students affected and not by GAD use different words specifically depending on their BAS levels. In conclusion, as predicted by previous researchers, personality is well-reflected through language styles: each student with a specific behavior, mental health characteristic, and even nationality expresses him/her self with different linguistic patterns.","Psychology; Chatbot; Conversational Agent; Personality; Language Inquiry; LIWC; Anxiety","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4fbac8a5-7290-49ef-8834-40b5b4e8f9ff","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4fbac8a5-7290-49ef-8834-40b5b4e8f9ff","Improvement of digital service platform business models to enter new markets: A case study analysis of digital service platforms in the have it done professional paint industry","Vogelaar, Timothy (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); de Caluwe, Iwar (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","AkzoNobel wants to explore new business models to anticipate on the ever-changing market needs of customers by integrated digital service platforms in their business. AkzoNobel invested in a new Joint Venture business entity Zervices (ZRVCS) to develop a service platform for the Have It Done paint service. The first market entry selected by this concept was in Belgium, which has currently not reached the predicted business KPI’s. The order intake has not reached the break-even point yet. Many suggestions were given for this slow start, but a concrete problem identification lacks. This led to the following question: “How can we improve service platform business models to enter new markets in the have it done professional paint industry?” In order to identify the problem for the slow start in Belgium and to propose future strategies for ZRVCS, a theoretical framework was made based on business model innovation, important factors for developing competitive advantage and market entry methods. This was used to analyse three case studies with interviews: Uw Schilderwerk, ZRVCS Belgium and ZRVCS the Netherlands. The first case, was the proof of concept Uw Schilderwerk in the Netherlands, which had problems during the start-up period. By resetting the business from year one with a good internal organization, improved platform and financial resources they became the biggest painting company in the Netherlands. This shows that the three factors from the framework are important for their success. Building on this knowledge the case of ZRVCS Belgium was analysed. Different reasons were given during the interviews and the target group of ZRVCS Belgium and Uw Schilderwerk was compared. All these things showed that the business model missed all three factors from the framework, showing the problems of the market entry in Belgium. The last case was the entry in the Dutch market ZRVCS together with de Consumentenbond using a market penetration strategy. The Dutch market is considered an attractive market due to the success of Uw Schilderwerk. During this entry the important aspects for market entry were shown, such as the importance of an attractive market and good collaboration with partners, such as established brands, de Consumentenbond and Sikkens/AkzoNobel.","Digital; service; platform","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2022-07-03","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d2845777-b753-4de5-8ef9-7d4c7ef90a69","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d2845777-b753-4de5-8ef9-7d4c7ef90a69","Key Success Factors for Startups in the Airline Industry","Michaux, Ruben (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hartmann, L. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Santema, S.C. (graduation committee); Jansen, Frank (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The airline industry has experienced enormous growth over the past decades, providing the opportunity to travel and explore new countries to more people than ever before. The enormous growth and serious drop in prices has created an ecosystem of very large airline groups and increasing consolidations of companies forced by very low profit margins. The airline environment can be conservative and innovation processes can be relatively slow, therefore startups can be an interesting and valuable sources of innovation for the airline industry. The survival rate of startups in general is very low and sources indicate that the airline industry is even more challenging for startups. Therefore, the objective of this research is to investigate the key success factors for startups in the airline industry and identify a strategy to exploit the key success factor successfully. The final objective of this research is to gain a better understanding of the success factors and find a strategy for startups to successfully exploit the key success factor. This should lead to an increased survival rates for startups in the airline industry and more efficient innovation. The results can than be used by multiple stakeholders such as airlines, incubators, startups and investors to better tailor their strategies and policies.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:922c1667-ba00-4994-b5ce-97561295def0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:922c1667-ba00-4994-b5ce-97561295def0","The interplay of risks on digital platform openness – a case study","Brandwijk, Noah (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Meeuwisse, Kirsten (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","A platform needs to have sufficient market potential, represented by the number of users who can join a platform. Platform openness affects the ease of actors joining the platform. Hence, in order to increase the chances of platform success, platforms want to maximize market potential and consequently also platform openness. This is problematic because architectural configurations with the highest market potential do not necessarily represent the most favourable configurations for societal values. Although there is anecdotal evidence of safety and privacy risks resulting in adjusted platform openness, there is little literature explaining the drivers and the process of adjusting due to risks posed to societal values. Hence, this thesis build an initial theory on the process of how digital platforms adjust their openness upon learning about risks for societal values. A case study was performed to pattern match theoretical concepts in a critical case. The study found that concepts of organizational legitimacy, double-loop learning and background theories may explain how a digital platform sponsor adjusts openness due to societal risks. In addition, empirical findings suggest that organizational maturity may affect platform openness. Nonetheless, it was inconclusively found whether societal risks cause a change in the value system of the platform. This research found that the identification of a societal risk may change the theories-in-use of a digital platform and subsequently affect platform openness.","Openness; Digital Platforms; Platform Openness; Platform; Governance; Double-loop learning; Organizational learning; Legitimacy; Values; Risk; Responsible platforms","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2021-06-29","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0deaec3b-1fe4-4e28-9b6c-fb76a6cdaab3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0deaec3b-1fe4-4e28-9b6c-fb76a6cdaab3","Biased decision-making in the building sector: A study on the psychological factors that influence the adoption of sustainable building methods","Hofman, Bjorn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); de Vries, G. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","This thesis explores whether cognitive bias and hassle perceptions influence the adoption of sustainable building measures. A survey research and in-depth interviews were used to do so. It appears that innovation in the building sector is hindered by an internal resistance against change. This seems to be fuelled by a lack of knowledge, risk aversion, and perception of hassle due to complex information. Investing in effective knowledge management and promoting diversity in the workforce could prove effective in negating the effect of this internal resistance to change.","Technology Acceptance Model; TAM; Sustainable building; Sustainable development; Cognitive bias; Hassle; Barriers to innovation adoption","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6ac9d3cb-9d85-4d37-8e55-706e4ee26d27","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6ac9d3cb-9d85-4d37-8e55-706e4ee26d27","Personality and Influence: The Relationship Between Personality Aspects and Cialdini's Influence Styles","Georgiev, Martin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Brazier, F.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Digital technologies have enabled uninterrupted mass persuasive communications everywhere and anytime, aiming at convincing people to change their beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors. Research has shown that persuasive technologies are most effective when the messages and means are tailored to people’s recipients’ unique characteristics, particularly personality. Previous studies have thus investigated the one-to-one relationship between the Big Five personality traits and influence styles—the engines behind any personalized persuasive technologies. Prior investigations yielded partially inconsistent results, potentially because the Big Five at the trait level is too broad an instrument in characterizing individual differences. This thesis drills down from personality trait to personality aspect – the next level of analysis in the personality hierarchy. The present study examines which personality aspect is most sensitive to which influence styles, generating a matrix of connections between personality and influence. Notably, aspects of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were found to be most strongly related to influence styles. The findings refine existing theoretical knowledge of the relationships between personality and influence style. Future designers could utilize these nuanced associations between personality aspects to create more personalized, and powerful persuasive technologies. Ethical implications of the findings are discussed.","Personality; influence; Big five; cialdini; persuasion; persuasive systems","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:05d0dd2e-63b6-40d6-9eed-be3e7feeed9a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:05d0dd2e-63b6-40d6-9eed-be3e7feeed9a","Improving the communication by IT during an incident with hazardous substances","Frima, Stijn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tavasszy, Lorant (mentor); Ludema, Marcel (mentor); Franssen, Maarten (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","This thesis is about communication between the emergency services and the logistics sector by means of information technology (IT), during incidents with hazardous substances on the road. The Dutch emergency services need information to deal effectively with this kind of incidents. Some of this information is in the possession of logistics companies, i.e. carriers. The fire brigade (one of the emergency services) receives nowadays this information in the form of a paper bill of lading at the time of arrival at the scene of the incident. It would be an improvement if the paper bill were replaced by a digital one (eCMR). This eCMR should be available to the emergency services at the same time as the incident is reported to the (112) alarm centre. In this study, possible improvement options are researched. All these options make use of the existing IT infrastructures of the logistics companies and the emergency services. Moreover, they meet the requirements, set in the in 2020 published Guidelines for the use of RID/ADR/ADN 5.4.0.2 of the UNECE about this subject.
Finally some recommendations are formulated, in particular to the ministry of Justice and Safety.","Hazardous substances; Detection; Response; Emergency services; Transport Logistics; IT; Digital bill of lading; eCMR; eCall; ADR; Fire brigade","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ea395903-161a-4bd0-b93b-8dee7f202945","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ea395903-161a-4bd0-b93b-8dee7f202945","The potential impact of Autonomous vehicles on the labor market in The Netherlands","Somashekar, Prathap (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, G.P. (graduation committee); Annema, J.A. (mentor); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The automobile industry has been continuously working on bringing automation in motor vehicles for the betterment of human life. Advancement in technology has helped companies manufacture cars that can drive and navigate on their own called Autonomous vehicles (AVs). There are numerous effects of AVs on society. The AVs are forecast to bring enormous changes in the labor market. The objective of the study is to understand how the introduction of AVs will impact the labor market related to skills and job types in The Netherlands. There has been a fear that changes in geography and technological change threatens the employee’s mismatch with their skill and job. Over multiple decades this mismatch has increased the demand for new skills and the supply is maintained by increasing the education level of workers. This demand for skill is due to technological change and it is predicted that there will be similar changes due to the introduction of AVs. To achieve the objective of this research, 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the academicians from the universities of The Netherlands and experts from labor organizations of The Netherlands. Interview questions were generated with the help of the conceptual model which was generated by the literature. From the result of the interview, it can be concluded that the AVs will not be having a major impact on the labor market and the problem will be very minimal related to skill and job types. Skill mismatch is not a major concern in The Netherlands and it will be only persisting for a short duration. There will be an increase in jobs and skills related to ICT and the supervision of AVs. Furthermore, interviewees claimed that the skill mismatch problem will not emerge if the introduction of AVs to the society is done incrementally and gradually. Based on the result, it is recommended for the future study should focus on quantifying the impact of AVs on the labor market based on the wage effect and inequality. And also expand the study in other countries if the effect is different compared to The Netherlands.","Autonomous vehicles; labor markets; skill mismatch; The Netherlands","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:31f44c13-6467-4d35-a598-32ddbb6f794a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:31f44c13-6467-4d35-a598-32ddbb6f794a","Investigating Target Selection and Financial Impact of Service Fraud: An empirical research into criminal activities on underground markets and their implications for businesses","Tsvetkova, Elena (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hernandez Ganan, Carlos (mentor); van Gelder, Pieter (graduation committee); Asghari, Hadi (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","A portion of the digital fraud occurring on the dark web comprises the illegal exchange of vouchers, coupons, and stolen accounts, defined in this research as service fraud. Despite its existence, this type of fraud had not been previously explored. This thesis employs a quantitative approach to examine which company characteristics influence the target selection process, and the financial impact of service fraud, conducted on eight prominent underground markets, from 2011 to 2017. Initial understanding of the matter is provided by mapping out the digital fraud landscape; exploring and classifying into four categories the different types of service fraud. The direct costs of such fraud for the analyzed companies are quantified, showing that the sustained losses are relatively low compared to the figures reported in various resources. Regression analysis is used to model which characteristics make companies more attractive to cyber criminals, and how they influence losses suffered by businesses. Reputation and domain popularity are able to explain to an extent the frequency of being targeted. Furthermore, companies operating locally, as well as smaller businesses seem to experience higher financial losses. The implications of the results for businesses and society are discussed. Expanding the current model with other factors or additional data, such as employed security controls and strategies, as well as using different research methods could enhance this topic and provide more insights.","Cybercrime; Digital fraud; Target selection; Underground markets; Credential theft; Quantitative analysis","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0ba6b673-9787-4bbe-9320-f6e9f4abaa7a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0ba6b673-9787-4bbe-9320-f6e9f4abaa7a","A Corporate Venturing Unit at EVIS: A MSc-thesis Research in External Corporate Venturing Objectives and crucial Factors for a Corporate Venturing Unit engaged in external Corporate Venturing","Kemper, Martijn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Values Technology and Innovation)","Hartmann, L. (graduation committee); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Fens, T.W. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Corporate Venturing, is a recurrently researched mechanism for corporates to stay innovative. However, the difficulty of establishing a Corporate Venturing Unit, becomes apparent in the literature. ENGIE Ventures and Integrated Solutions (EVIS) also resorts to external CV activities, in order to cope with the pace of technological innovations in the predominantly classical energy industry making it an interesting case to conduct the research. The first part of the research consisted of research endeavors into external CV objectives, in order to develop a version of the intended external CV objectives for a CVU at EVIS. This has been done by conducting a thorough literature review. Consequently, these insights were used as a foundation to conduct internal interviews at EVIS in order to develop a set of intended CV objectives for a CVU at EVIS. The second part, researching the factors, started with a literature study, resulting in the development of a conceptual framework of factors. This conceptual framework has been used as a foundation for a total of nine external interviews. Ultimately, the insights of both the internal interviews and external interviews are processed into implications for EVIS. For the CV objectives intended for a CVU at EVIS, strategic objectives should outweigh the financial objective, where the following strategic objectives are specifically mentioned in order of importance: Strategic corporate renewal and a window on new technology, business models and capabilities – Promoting ENGIE’s innovative and entrepreneurial image – Developing an innovative and entrepreneurial culture within the corporate – Leveraging internal capabilities, competencies and ideas to create new business – Accelerating innovation though ventures – Creating deal flow for corporate M&A. For the financial objective, the interviewees at EVIS indicated the room for potential loss-making investments and ambiguity towards whether every investment should be financially viable. However, external interviews provided a different insight: every investment should show good financial returns, purely looking at the investment financials. Furthermore, the factors that should be considered in order for a CVU to engage in external CV activities, based on literature and external interviews, have been approached by categorizing them into five categories: Factors internal to the CVU, factors in the relation between the CVU and the corporate parent, between the CVU and external ventures, between the CVU and spin-offs and between the CVU and external investment partners. The following factors have been found to be most crucial to consider for a CVU engaging in external CV activities: balancing strategic and financial objectives, the CVU’s team composition and compensation, the autonomy of a CVU and the degree of autonomy it provides to ventures, collaborative investments together with financial and strategic co-investors, and specific activities of a CVU with spin-offs (e.g. motivation to spin-off, involvement of external investors, etc.). However, most importantly, there is no one size fits all for the factors identified. Hence, each CVU should make its own decisions with regard to the identified factors, in order to create the most suited circumstances for their CVU.","Corporate Venturing; Innovation; Ventures; Startups; Strategic Investors","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:8f76757d-370f-4d9e-b519-c566c817c033","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8f76757d-370f-4d9e-b519-c566c817c033","To Store or Not to Store: A Q-Methodological Study into the Influence of Perceived Needs and Factors on the Implementation of Electrical Storage Applications in the Dutch Power Grid","Woliner, Samy (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Bouwman, W.A.G.A. (graduation committee); Rook, L. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Modern society is highly dependent on the reliable supply of affordable electricity. To ensure a sustainable future, this energy should be derived from renewable generation systems. The intermittent output of such systems makes it hard to maintain the so-called grid balance, which can lead to the malfunctioning of the current power grid. Adding electrical storage applications to the electrical energy infrastructure is increasingly mentioned as a viable and even instrumental solution, but no stakeholder seems willing to act. This research combines PESTLE analysis with Q-methodology to investigate and describe the variables that influence this situation. In doing so, it lists the institutional factors that are presently deemed by various stakeholders to be either opportunities or barriers to implementing a system to maintain grid balance in the Dutch electrical infrastructure. A tentative conceptual modal is proposed to illustrate the mutual influence of the perceived external forces that could induce change in the Dutch electricity sector.","Electricity Storage; Grid Management; Energy Management System; Balancing Mechanisms","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c2a55cdc-9df6-4baf-beb5-91bf9808051e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c2a55cdc-9df6-4baf-beb5-91bf9808051e","Exploring MaaS Business Models on Strengths, Weaknesses and Sustainability","van der Haas, Jesse (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Engineering, Systems and Services; Rijkswaterstaat - Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); van Wee, G.P. (graduation committee); Rook, L. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a new mobility concept that allows users to plan, book and pay for a multimodal and seamless trip in a single application. Real-life examples of MaaS propositions are still scarce and most have not left a trial or pilot phase. The MaaS-team of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) wants to steer the development of the nascent MaaS market in the Netherlands and make MaaS have a sustainable impact. To this end, the MaaS-team has set up a framework agreement and seven national pilots. Within this context potential business models for MaaS proposition and their sustainability have been investigated. Through academic literature, a conceptual model is created to guide data gathering and analysis. Thirteen anonymous MaaS Service Providers (MSPs) are interviewed in semi-structured interviews from which the qualitative data is analysed through open coding. This yielded a range of target customers, value propositions and revenue and pricing models as well as results on how MSPs interact with transport operators and how they implement key functionalities. Analysis shows there is no strong business model for consumers yet. Business models aimed at the government, employers, other MSPs and other businesses seem much stronger. Additionally, business models for MaaS seem overly reliant on kickback fees. To judge whether business models for MaaS that are currently being developed are sustainable, these business models were investigated for their ability to both create and capture sustainable value. The business models are less ecologically sustainable than MSPs think they are, with little over half being ecologically sustainable. Reversely, the business models were more socially sustainable than the MSPs thought they were, with about three-quarters being socially sustainable. There thus seems to be a disconnect between perceived and actual sustainability among MSPs. Nonetheless, all MaaS propositions offer the tools to make a sustainable impact if an outside actor is willing to pay for that, allowing the MSP to capture the created sustainable value. Based on these findings the conceptual model was revised, policy and managerial recommendations are made and implications for the literature is discussed. Finally, the limitations to this research are discussed and future avenues for research are presented.","MaaS; Mobility-as-a-Service; Sustainability; Business Model","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:58a4c5ea-36d5-4688-949d-698dbcccf294","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:58a4c5ea-36d5-4688-949d-698dbcccf294","Towards Achieving Gender Equality in Automated Loan Approval Processes","Khaleghi, Aaron (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Warnier, Martijn (graduation committee); Asghari, H. (mentor); Duran, J.M. (mentor); Timmermans, Benjamin (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The consumer lending domain has increasingly leveraged Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make loan approval processes more efficient and to make use of larger amount of information to predict their applicants’ repayment ability. Over time, however, valid concerns have been raised about whether decisions made about individuals using these data-driven technologies can lead to bias against women. In an attempt to assess the fairness of an algorithm, 21 prominent definitions of fairness have been proposed by the computer science community over the years. However, what remains absent is consensus on which definitions are suitable for assessing gender equality in consumer lending. There is also a lack of knowledge on how to appropriately implement these metrics in practice. To tackle the problems mentioned above, this research has investigated how automated loan approval processes can be assessed for gender equality. Two essential elements for assessing predictive tools were identified and investigated through a separate research question: What fairness metrics are suitable for assessing gender equality in consumer lending? How can the metrics be applied to observe gender bias in lending history data? Based on the questions above, the research was conducted in two stages: Stage 1 focused on analyzing the prominent definitions of group fairness, but before doing so, it conceptualizes gender equality in consumer lending by conducting an extensive literature review encompassing domains of philosophy, economics, gender studies, and history. In investigating the first research question, it is found that group fairness metrics are a measure of distributive justice. These metrics are based on three different statistical criteria commonly known as independence, sufficiency, and separation and each underlie different moral assumptions which should be verified based on the application scenario at hand. In Stage 2 of this work, the second research question was investigated by conducting an exploratory case study in which a logistic regression model is built to classify a sample of loan applicants in an open source dataset. Both the dataset and the model are then tested for bias using IBM’s open source Python AIF36 toolkit. After applying the group fairness metrics, it was found that the choice of separation and sufficiency can have different repercussions for each demographic group in the dataset. When false distribution of utility is under inspection, sufficiency advantaged male applicants more than the female applicants while separation advantages males more than females. Such inconsistency highlights the importance of realizing how relevant distribution of harm/benefit depends on the choice of fairness criteria made by decision makers. Lastly, the research provides an extensive discussion on possible root causes of bias and some recommendations to managers and data stewards on how to tackle bias issues that stakeholders may face in the context of consumer lending.","fairness; Fairness Perception; Ethics; Gender Equality; machine learning; Bias Detection; Bias Mitigation; Consumer lending; Binary Classification","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9268d9fe-eab7-4ce4-bf47-612a0664cf45","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9268d9fe-eab7-4ce4-bf47-612a0664cf45","Evacuation in flood threat scenarios: Improving methods to estimate the required time for evacuation.","Dannenberg, Paul (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M. (mentor); Jonkman, Sebastiaan N. (mentor); Kolen, B. (mentor); van Well, Eddy (graduation committee); Poot, Koos (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Evacuation is a tool to minimise the loss of life and economic damages in flood (threat) scenarios. There is currently little data available on mass evacuation in the Netherlands to calibrate existing models or to develop new insights. This thesis aims to improve the methods used in the Netherlands to estimate the effectiveness of evacuation with methods developed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This USACE method includes a questionnaire that can be completed with authorities which in turn estimates the time it takes for authorities to give a warning to evacuate, how fast the warning spread through the population and how fast people will react to this warning. The results of this thesis showed that this “USACE assessment method” could be a valuable source of information to the Netherlands. However, due to the different threat scenarios and command structure(s) found in the USA several adaptations are needed to this USACE assessment method to make it usable in the Netherlands. However, this thesis also showed that the effect of (most) measures takes by authorities in the Netherlands will be limited by the heavy road congestion during evacuation. Traffic jams will quickly develop and any improvements with respect to evacuation will be cancelled out. So a recommendation that follows from this report is that authorities in the Netherlands shift their focus from an area specific evacuation strategy to a national evacuation strategy so new traffic management option can be developed that can limit these traffic jams. Another conclusion of this thesis is that agent based and micro level evacuation and loss of life models (models where people are modelled separately and area specific parameters are taken into account and thus include much more detail) add little to nothing to the evacuation strategies of the Netherlands compared to the current used macro models (models where an overarching view of the evacuation is used). Again, this is due to the large traffic congestion where traffic jams will almost immediately develop. When better traffic management options are available these micro level and agent based models may provide new insights on the evacuation effectiveness of specific areas.","Evacuation modelling","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b06b6b14-9e21-446e-b09a-0fc48ed5fbb8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b06b6b14-9e21-446e-b09a-0fc48ed5fbb8","Strategies for the diffusion of sustainable energy technologies in developing countries","in 't Veld, Yvar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Kamp, L.M. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","In recent years, there are growing concerns over climate change and future energy supply. Sustainable energy technologies (SETs) can be implemented to decrease the human impact on the environment and to ensure future energy supply. However, firms that develop SETs face barriers to the large-scale diffusion of their product in the market. This research identifies barriers and strategies for the diffusion of SETs in developing countries. Ortt et al. (2013) developed a framework to assess the market situation based on influencing factors (IF) and core factors (CF). The framework focuses on the diffusion of high-tech products in developed countries. This research uses an improved and later version of this framework that was developed by Kamp et al. (2017) and Ortt & Kamp (2018) as a starting point. This framework is used as a basis and it has been adapted in this research to better suit analyses focusing on the diffusion of SETs in developing countries. For this purpose, some CFs and IFs have been adapted and new factor categories have been added. In the context of this research, the combination of an IF and a CF forms a barrier-set and an individual barrier is defined as an issue that is causing an underdeveloped state of a factor. The goal of the framework of Ortt et al. (2013) is to couple barrier-sets to niche strategies. By adopting niche strategies, firms can circumvent or remove barrier-sets and the large-scale diffusion of their high-tech product is made possible. The framework of Ortt et al. (2013) is focused on developed countries and therefore it has been adapted in this research to better suit the typical constraints of developing countries. In addition, the original framework only focuses on the identification of niche strategies that a firm can adopt. The original framework is extended in this research by incorporating the intervening effect of other actors that can influence the process of circumventing or removing barrier-sets that prevent the large-scale diffusion of SETs. These actors can provide support or they can counteract a firm in this process. In this research, issues that prevent the diffusion of SETs in developing countries have been identified and categorized based on factor descriptions that Ortt & Kamp (2018) formulated. In addition, a new methodology is developed to link barrier-sets to strategies. To conclude, the original framework is extended and a preliminary test of this extended framework is performed. A literature review is performed for the identification and categorization of all the issues, but also for the development of the new methodology and the extension of the framework. The extended framework is tested by performing a case study. The case study shows how the extended framework can be applied. New insights from this case study have further improved the extended framework. The results of this research provide several contributions to the scientific literature. First, 101 issues that prevent the large-scale diffusion of SETs in developing countries have been identified. Second, the process of categorizing all the issues revealed that new factor categories were required to fully capture all the issues, which resulted in formulating 2 new IFs and 2 new CFs. New IFs are: ‘’Environmental, ecological and geographical aspects’’ and ‘’Organizational capacity’’. New CFs are: ‘’Infrastructure’’ and ‘’Data availability’’. The new factor categories ‘’Environmental, ecological and geographical aspects’’ and ‘’Data availability’’ can be adopted in the original framework that Ortt et al. (2013) developed. In addition, all of these new factor categories can be adopted in an adapted framework focusing on developing countries. These additions improve the frameworks and make them more comprehensive. Third, this research provides a new methodology to identify linkages between barrier-sets and strategies. This methodology explores a barrier-set more thoroughly than when the original framework of Ortt et al. (2013) is applied. An advantage of this new methodology is that core problems of the barrier-set are identified and in some cases this may lead to the selection of a more accurate and effective strategy. Fourth, the extended framework that incorporates the intervening effect of other actors in the process of circumventing or removing a barrier-set is developed and this improves the comprehensiveness of the framework. Possible supportive and counteracting strategies of other actors have been identified. The strategy identification process revealed that most actors have nothing to gain by adopting a counteracting position towards firms that sell SETs. Thus, this implies that most actors will take a neutral or supportive position towards such firms. The combined results of the literature review and the case study show that entrepreneurs who are able to engage in network activities and maintain good contact with other actors have higher chances on circumventing or removing barrier-sets and have more strategic options. Partnerships can be very important because this may lead to cost reductions and it may provide access to a larger potential market. This research has academic and practical implications. The tool that this research provides is an extended version of the framework that Ortt et al. (2013) developed. Firms can possibly use this tool to anticipate and investigate what strategies other actors may adopt in order to increase the chance of selecting a successful niche strategy. This tool can also serve an academic purpose. The framework can be used to investigate the large-scale diffusion of SETs in developing countries, but it can also be used for analyses focusing on other types of technologies in other countries. There are also several opportunities for future research. An example is that a study could identify drivers for the diffusion of SETs. These drivers can be converted to issues through logical reasoning and this could provide additional issues to improve the comprehensiveness of the extended framework. Another example is that a study could focus on identifying more counteracting strategies for specific actors to identify more strategic options for firms. Note that the extended framework that this research provides should be tested before using it in practice.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2dcbae97-2141-4e38-8fd3-2ffd88517f9f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2dcbae97-2141-4e38-8fd3-2ffd88517f9f","Ethical behavior with artificial intelligence in the ICT-industry in the Netherlands: Towards an improved code of ethics","Nederpel, Arnoud (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roeser, S. (mentor); Duran, J.M. (mentor); Rook, L. (graduation committee); van Roode, Dirk (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize many industries across the world. However, artificial intelligence systems raise a series of ethical challenges that hamper their sustainable development. These challenges have often been discussed from a philosophical or theoretical perspective, but rarely from the more practical perspective of businesses. The lack of such a perspective for the ICT-sector in the Netherlands has formed a barrier to develop adequate ethical governance mechanisms. Specifically, the scarcity of practical data of ethical challenges and governance of business in the industry has made it difficult to establish the quality of the current code of ethics for the industry and the need for additional ethical governance measures. This research provides a descriptive study of ethical challenges and ethical governance of AI for ICT-businesses in the Netherlands. A form of mixed methodology (i.e., the exploratory sequential method) combines literature, interviews, and a questionnaire to acquire the relevant data. The results of these three methods are triangulated to identify room for improvement in the current code of ethics and identify the need for additional governance measures. Explainability, fairness, safety, and privacy were identified as the most pressing ethical challenges for businesses in the industry. This research also found that the first three of these challenges are currently insufficiently addressed in the code of ethics for the ICT-industry. Moreover, this study found a significantly low level of ethical governance of AI among small and medium-sized enterprises as compared to large companies. Future research should focus on further normative argumentation on principles for explainability, fairness, and safety to improve the code of ethics. Furthermore, this work lays the basis for researching and developing different concrete ethical governance measures of AI for the industry, especially for SMEs.","Artificial Intelligence; Code of Ethics; Ethical Governance; ICT-industry","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:8ab71c2b-13eb-4d47-88a0-434c68603ebd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8ab71c2b-13eb-4d47-88a0-434c68603ebd","Dutch electric vehicle drivers' acceptance of vehicle-to-grid at long-term parking","van Heuveln, Koen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, G.P. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Ghotge, R. (graduation committee); van Bergen, Esther (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The objective of this study was identifying factors that contribute to Dutch electric vehicle (EV) drivers’ acceptance of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) at long-term parking lots. The results of this study aim to help V2G system designers to improve the quality of bi-directional V2G charging services for EV users and to foster V2G acceptance. The following problem statement was formulated: “To what extent do Dutch EV drivers accept V2G at long-term parking?” Based on a literature review and 20 exploratory semi-structured interviews with Dutch EV users, the conceptual model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour was contextualized for V2G acceptance by extending it. The resulting model includes V2G acceptance as a core concept and following influencing main factors or categories: perceived benefits, perceived barriers, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, EV driver’s profile characteristics, trust and intention to accept. Based on the interviews, the main conclusion was that EV users predominantly showed high acceptance of V2G at long-term parking, but that it was dependent on a relatively high number of different underlying factors or sub-factors (85) and that their individual attitudes differed with regards to several topic areas or categories (e.g. perceived benefits and barriers). Most interviewees would have the intention to use V2G at long-term parking on condition that they could receive monetary compensation for possible battery degradation, compensation for experienced discomfort and that the (technical) risks of V2G participation are transparently communicated. Furthermore, the interviewees indicated that the use of V2G systems should be simple, easy-to-use and not significantly different from (using) regular charging devices. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that future research should focus on EV drivers that have practical experience with V2G systems. Furthermore, V2G system designers should adopt a consumer-centric approach by focussing on clear-cut information provision for EV users, create business cases so that EV users show a level of content, choose for V2G bi-directional charger vendors and aggregators that offer a user-friendly interface, so that EV drivers can have the option to exert control.
In total, four zero-emission alternative technologies are selected (batteries, hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia) with in total eight configurations. The technical and economic feasibility of these suggested innovations are analysed for three different areas in the Wadden Sea. The total weight of the energy storage systems and the frequency of bunkering or charging are major factors for the feasibility. Since zero-emission hydrogen is produced with electrolysis and hydrogen-carriers methanol and ammonia are produced with hydrogen, air (CO2/N2) and electricity, the electricity rate is the most important factor for the operational expenditures for zero-emission ferries. Batteries have the lowest total cost of ownership, even lower than diesel (which is used as reference fuel). This is mainly due the high efficiency during production, charging, and converting. Zero-emission ferries are socially desirabe in the Wadden Sea. However, there are negative aspects for each selected alternative. Furthermore, the sanctioned discourse includes aspects that can make adoption of innovations more difficult. The political feasibility is based on the social feasibility and the decision making process. Many interviewees see concessions and the concession criteria as a policy tool that can be used to stimulate zero-emission ferries. However, the first window of opportunity is most likely before the next concession starts in 2029 and long-term planning with ferry operators is difficult in the concession system. Zero-emission ferries can be used as platform to show ferry-users why the Wadden Sea has an UNESCO World Heritage status.","Wadden Sea; Ferries; Zero-emission; Battery-electric; Hydrogen; Methanol; Ammonia; Feasibility; Emissions","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0441b925-96ad-4399-86ae-4152f88c8aa9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0441b925-96ad-4399-86ae-4152f88c8aa9","Enhancing the integration of digital interfaces in outbound logistics: An exploratory case study in the Netherlands","Oost, Kevin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Ding, Aaron Yi (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","An increase in shipping quantities has put its strain on incumbent integration mechanisms in third-party outbound logistics. Therefore, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have recently witnessed increasing attention from practitioners in the logistics industry. However, implementing so-called Shipping APIs has proven to be difficult. With the goal of overcoming barriers to API adoption in outbound logistics, factors influencing logistics buyers’ adoption motivations are determined by adopting the case study methodology. It involved nine interviews with logistics buyers, fulfilment companies and integrators, after which findings were validated by means of a focus group with industry experts. Key challenges were found to be mainly technological; a lack of relative advantage when comparing it to the status quo and the risk of potential downtime were indicated by participants numerous times. Furthermore, among organizational factors, available resources were identified to play a moderate role and regarding environmental factors, the lack of marketing efforts surrounding Shipping APIs was argued to be of marginal impact. From this unique view of different stakeholders in the outbound logistics chain, this study hopes to promote API adoption and provide insights into the new emerging API paradigm within the supply chain network. The insights gained from this research can help to better formulate implementation strategies concerning integration technology, in an industry that is adapting to a new composition of consumer buying behaviour.","integration; outbound logistics; API","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:874a6010-d41e-4565-9b31-6b75fdd8cdef","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:874a6010-d41e-4565-9b31-6b75fdd8cdef","Identifying salient factors that influence the diffusion of low-cost sanitary products made by the small-scale production units in India: A social innovation study","Joseph Thaddeus, Agnelo Iasanth (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pesch, U. (mentor); Bekebrede, G. (graduation committee); Roeser, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","Menstruation is a natural and healthy monthly phenomenon for women. However, many women across India struggle with it. Due to a number of barriers, these women are not able to use sanitary products resulting in a risk of contracting reproductive tract infections (RTIs), also their self-esteem and self-confidence also gets affected. This has consequences: girls dropping out of school, women quitting work, reluctance to be part of social events and the infections leading to severe health related complications to name a few. Hence, social entrepreneurs in the field of menstrual hygiene management decided to address this social problem by establishing small-scale production units that make low-cost sanitary products and run awareness campaigns. However, the diffusion of these low-cost sanitary products remains very low. Therefore, raising questions about the sustainability of these small-scale production units that have cropped up across India. Thus, in this research, a conceptual framework is built to help understand the social innovation (SI) process of making and selling low-cost sanitary products, and clearly identify the salient factors that influence the diffusion of these sanitary products made by the small-scale production units for this complex market. Eight salient factors were identified that influenced the diffusion of low-cost sanitary products among women in India: relative advantage, complementary product & services, network & interpersonal ties, promotion platforms, intermediaries, social structure, political factors, cultural & psychological factors. Based on these findings, it led to five policy recommendations and three recommendations to the social enterprises. The policy recommendations are: i. Changes to GST exemption on sanitary products. ii. Central action committee to ensure consensus in promotion of sanitary products. iii. Revision in existing standards for sanitary products. iv. Sanitary waste management. v. Programming for menstrual health programs. While, the recommendations to the small-scale production units are: i Develop environment friendly sanitary products with more size and colour variations. ii. To improve the accessibility of the sanitary products. iii. To collaborate with other actors to build and run awareness programs.","Social innovation; Menstual hygiene management; diffusion; Factors; low-cost sanitary products","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0159ec1e-b2b7-4d16-8477-db8c3963b3e9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0159ec1e-b2b7-4d16-8477-db8c3963b3e9","The Transition towards Circular Economy in the Dutch Built Environment: An exploratory research on the application of Product-Service Systems as Circular Business Models for the products, components, and materials in the building layers","Koukopoulou, Foteini (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Quist, J.N. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2020","The current industrial system is established on one fundamental characteristic: a linear model of resource consumption that follows a ‘take-make-dispose’ pattern. However, the emerging concept of Circular Economy (CE) is proposed to change the current production and consumption patterns that put a significant burden on our planet and its environmental capacity. In this context, scholars argue that the built environment is one of the key sectors that can benefit maximally from the development of CE. The Dutch government recognized this opportunity and in the publication of the Transition Agenda: Circular Economy in the Netherlands by 2050 acknowledged the construction industry as one of the five key economic sectors and value chains which will be the first to make the shift. In order to support the transition towards a circular built environment, experts from academia, policy, and business advocate that innovative business models that allow new ownership relationships are required. In this context, scholars argue that a promising business models for the implementation of circular economy thinking in the sector are product-service systems. This research focuses on buildings which are considered the most complex element within the built environment. Literature on the application of circular economy for buildings suggests looking at them as a collection of interlinking layers. This idea based on the “6S” framework developed by Stewart Brand in 1990s which includes six layers, namely: Site, Structure, Skin, Services, Space Plan, and Stuff. However, researchers argue that there is still great uncertainty regarding the application of circular business models in the Dutch built environment, as well as the fact that the transition from traditional product-oriented business models to service-oriented ones is highly complex and contextual illustrates that further research is required in this area. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to examine the application of product-service systems as circular business models for the products, components and materials in buildings’ Structure, Skin and Services layers in order to contribute to the Dutch built environment’s shift towards circular economy. As a result, the main research question formulated is: “What is the current state of product-service systems as circular business models in the built environment and how can its application contribute to a circular built environment?” For answering the research question a literature review was conducted in order to examine the relevant concepts, along with expert interviews with the aim to explore the barriers, enablers and opportunities of the application of product-service systems as circular business models. Finally, a case study survey was carried out with the aim to analyze the business models of two companies who are active in the built environment and have successfully applied product-service systems as circular business models. The analysis illustrated that even though numerous opportunities are offered by this business model to both the company and the client when applied in the different building layers, it is not yet accepted in the sector and its application is hindered by several barriers. However, a number of enablers which can facilitate the implementation of product-service systems as circular business models were recognized. In addition, the analysis illustrated that for the successful implementation of product-service systems as circular business model incorporating servitization and circularity characteristics in all business model elements is necessary.","Circular Economy; Built Environment; Product-Service System; Circular Business Model","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:62761562-9bc9-42bf-9532-f1293028cc5e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:62761562-9bc9-42bf-9532-f1293028cc5e","Mergers & Acquisitions in Practice: The Road to Success for High-Tech Firms: An Aggregate European Study on the Effect of Mergers and Acquisitions on High-Tech Target Firm Performance","Offerman, Rochus (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Hakvoort, R.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","In the last decade, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity steadily enlarged, where global deal making continues to rise. While the M&A activity is increasing, it is the technology sector with the fastest growing number of transitions. Even though M&A are widely used for financial research purposes, there is plenty yet to be uncovered, particularly on an aggregate level and privately held high-tech firms. Europe offer a natural lab- oratory to study the determinant and consequences of mergers and acquisitions given essential variations in laws and regulations, institutions, traditions, and economic environments across countries, continents and over time. Interestingly, novel data has become recently available meaning that we can see how privately held target firms in Europe behave before and after the takeover. This thesis report focuses on understanding whether M&A affect target firm’s performance. The analysis is conducted on 689 European high-tech target firms, in which 95.26% are privately held, that were acquired in the period from 2011 to 2017. Target firm performance changes are tested with the inclusion of four key accounting performance indicators (e.g., Return on Assets, Operating Margin, Sales Growth and Net Profit), the difference in Intellectual Property measured by the number of patent applications, and three prominent quantitative research methods (Ordinary Least Square model, the Intercept model, and the Difference-in- Difference model). Including several approaches enhances the findings, overcomes weaknesses of the individual methods and addresses endogeneity concerns. Overall, the results clearly shows that target firms do not benefit from the M&A in terms of performance. In other words, the synergies did not benefit the target firm, whereas multiple potential M&A motives, including diversification, strategic gains, and market power did not lead to a better performance of the target firm. Interestingly, the results indicate that target firms in general tend to under perform to the adjusted con- trol group or their peer firms. The latter implies that acquired firms failed to keep up with the competition and confirm the fact that targets were in need of a way to strategically improve. Further, distinguishing evidence is found between domestic versus cross-border takeovers, whereas domestic deals outperform cross- border deals. Which proves it is easier to transfer assets between parent and subsidiary operating in the same country. Large enterprises perform better after the M&A compared to small and medium enterprises. M&A between SME are more likely to be financed with equity over debt which better process the transaction of tangible and intangible asset what could be in favour of the synergy exploitation’s. Also, findings suggest that large firm are more capable to exploit economies of scope and economies of scale. Firms that enclose a medium or high cultural distance outperform low cultural distance deals an not vice versa. This suggests that, taking into account the fact that bordering countries have similar cultural characteristics, greater cultural dimension between firms expose significant growth opportunities. Precisely be- cause long-distance target firms tend to have benefited substantially from the diffusion of the acquiring firms’ know-how, while taking into account that management and organisational styles are obviously significantly different between the two firms. In addition, target firms from the Anglo-Saxon region outperform target firms from the Rhineland region. Firms with an Anglo-Saxon corporate governance orientated firms conversely, are more likely to adopt strategic innovate projects on exploitation and external development. Whereas Rhineland corporate governance are more likely to adopt internal growth and exploratory as strategic renewal trajectories. Further, no compelling differences in performance are found for M&A in the same industry than across industries. In general, the findings presented in this paper provide new insights, while it also complements existing evidence, and on the other hand it contradicts former claims.","Mergers & Acquisitions; Accounting Indicators; High-Tech; Difference-in-Difference Model; Intercept Model; OLS Model; Privately held target firms; Europe; Innovation; Intellectual Property","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2020-12-19","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:096776e4-5a78-4cee-b764-24c8d964811f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:096776e4-5a78-4cee-b764-24c8d964811f","Are University Business Incubators Overprotective Parents?: A Knowledge as a Resource-Based Perspective on Growth of Academic Spinoffs using an Open Innovation and Absorptive Capacity Framework","Tandon, Mihir (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, Robert (graduation committee); Scholten, Victor (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","University business incubators are a global rising phenomenon and have an imprint on the genetics of high technology-based academic spin-offs and are central to the triple-helix model of innovation systems for academia-industry-policy. Research focused on Regional Innovation System of Delft suggest that the high technology-based start-ups face challenges in their growth up to a time period as long as four years due to resource-based obstacles and this can be a factor affecting the mortality rate of start-ups in the regions. University business incubators are a powerhouse of open innovation and support permeable firm boundaries for external knowledge, organizations cannot enjoy competitive advantage just by the virtue of being exposed to it but have to acquire, assimilate (Potential Absorptive Capacity), transform and exploit (Realized Absorptive Capacity) knowledge as a resource. Relatively less is known about how does the incubator support help the start-ups to develop their dynamic capabilities and the possible implications of this parent-spin-off relationship on their growth after graduation from that incubator and removal of the incubator support. Thus, to address this research gap, this research study examines 67 academic startups from Yes! Delft by finding the answer to the research question -” What are the implications of a university incubator’s support to academic start-ups to implement open-innovation & develop dynamic capabilities on the growth of academic start-ups?”. From an extensive literature review, a hierarchal conceptual model is developed where a lower order consists of open innovation based activities and higher-order consists of dimensions of absorptive capacity, tested for outcome variable competitive advantage using three constructs- Innovation, Strategic Flexibility and Product development Related Performance. The data is collected using a questionnaire & analyses is done for PLS-SEM using the software SmartPLS3.0. The findings for three sub-research questions are then interpreted to understand growth implications for navigation critical junctures -opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial commitment, credibility & sustainable returns, followed by suggestions for practitioners.","regional innovation systems,; incubator support; triple-helix; academic start-ups; absorptive capacity; Open Innovation; dynamic capabilities; knowledge-based view; competitive advantage; growth of academic start-ups; strategy management; entrepreneurship; PLS-SEM","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b509e532-102b-4871-ba09-0130a7ad08e8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b509e532-102b-4871-ba09-0130a7ad08e8","Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing on Brine Effluent Treatment: A Case Study of the Zero Brine Project in the Netherlands","Panteleaki Tourkodimitri, Kallirroi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Korevaar, G. (mentor); Ludema, M.W. (graduation committee); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Tsalidis, G.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The water crisis is one of the most important global risks influencing humanity. Urbanization as well as economic, social and technological evolution have led to water overconsumption across the world and thus to water scarcity. Industry comprises one of the main water consumers along with agriculture and municipalities. At the same time, industry constitutes a significant water polluter since a large amount of its wastewater does not receive treatment prior to its disposal to the environment. One of the greatest sources of wastewater is brine effluent, a hypersaline concentrate created during the water treatment in the industries. In an effort to tackle the challenges that brine effluent imposes, both in terms of management and costs, the process industry should shift to technical solutions that foster sustainable development. There are three dimensions with respect to sustainability; the environmental, the economic and the social. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as well as Life Cycle Costing (LCC), both of which are the main axis of this thesis, are tools for identifying and analyzing environmental and economic impacts respectively. The object of this thesis is the Zero Brine (ZB) project which promotes a closed-loop approach to address the complex brine effluents by eliminating them, mitigating the effects of industrial processes while recovering materials such as water, energy, minerals, magnesium, and salts. This research is focusing on the Dutch case study where the assessment of a demineralized water production system before and after the implementation of ZB applications is taking place. The evaluation of sustainability performance comprises one of the main goals of this project. Thus, this thesis aims to assess the environmental and economic sustainability of the ZB project by implementing the LCA and LCC techniques. To that end, the parallel implementation of LCA and LCC was performed. Furthermore, the three types of LCC; conventional (cLCC), environmental (eLCC) and societal (sLCC), were also included in the analysis. The results of the analysis showed that the implementation of the ZB system has ambiguous results concerning environmental performance. On the one hand, the majority of the environmental impacts were decreased by 15% to 22%, On the other hand, global warming, acidification as well as particulate matter formation categories were sharply increased by more than 100%. From the economic assessment results, it was concluded that the application of ZB design is not financially viable since it degrades the economic performance of the current production scheme. By estimating the NPV after the implementation of ZB applications, it was observed that it is negative thus rendering the project unsustainable Overall, to enhance the environmental and economic performance of ZB applications, more research required to tackle the abovementioned issues and to render ZB project a sustainable, industrially applicable solution for the treatment of brine and the recovery of valuable resources.","Life Cycle Assessment; Life Cycle Costing; Brine Effluent; Zero Brine","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","ZERO BRINE",""
"uuid:5881b04b-fe32-45b0-8e68-a74e450041a1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5881b04b-fe32-45b0-8e68-a74e450041a1","Designing a co-creation tool for an innovation platform in the Dutch e-government","Meijer, Koen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Bharosa, N. (graduation committee); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (graduation committee); van Engelenburg, S.H. (graduation committee); van Dokkum, Thanim (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Digitization often comes with its challenges. This thesis focuses on a new approach to innovating digital public services in the Netherlands. Innovation in the public sector encounters public sector specific innovation barriers, hampering the innovation process. Innovation in the public sector is still a little researched topic in the innovation literature. The co-creation lab is a proposed solution to overcome the innovation barriers through collaboration for innovation and experiments for innovation. Both of these have proposed benefits. Collaboration for innovation increases innovativeness and aids in creating ideas that are prone to adoption. Experimentation for innovation creates learning opportunities, increases the effectiveness of innovation processes, and proposes a solution to overcome governmental innovation barriers.
While the potential benefits of the co-creation lab are understood, it is unclear how the co-creation lab should be operationalized. This is the basis for the main research problem: Although experimentation and collaboration for innovation are adopted to overcome the government’s innovation barriers, it is not clear how to make those concepts operational in the co-creation lab. A tool is designed to support the co-creation lab’s operations. The design of the tool is the goal of the main research question: How can a co-creation tool be designed for a governmental innovation platform in which experiments are conducted with governmental IT infrastructures to foster innovation in the Dutch e-government? The co-creation tool is a tool that supports the co-creation lab in its operations to enable collaborations and to perform experiments. The main research question aims to solve the six challenges that are attached to the research problem: meager research into innovation in the public sector, the adoption of the quadruple helix model, enabling co-creation, requirements to perform experiments, the conditions of the technology used in experiments, and enabling use and reuse of already existing knowledge. The research is based on the design science research methodology of Peffers, Tuunanen, Rothenberger, & Chatterjee (2007), which focuses on design research of Information Systems (IS). This thesis alters the activities to create three research phases: discovery, utilization, and design. For the discovery phase, a review is carried out of relevant scientific literature related to the research challenges. Also, semi-structured interviews are conducted with five people close to the Digicampus to discover the current innovation journey for digital innovations in the Dutch government. The utilization phase is carried out by creating use cases about the process of the experiments according to the UML standard. From the use cases, functional requirements are derived. The design phase is carried out by creating a prototype of the co-creation tool. The UX program Sketch is used to create the prototype. The prototype is evaluated in an interactive workshop. The outcome of this research is a UX/UI design prototype of the co-creation tool. The tool’s design is a website that discloses the required information to support the innovation journey of innovators in the public sector.","Co-creation; Open Innovation; Innovation platform; Experimentation; Experimental platform; E-government; Quadruple helix; Governmental IT infrastructures","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:046c0b18-a9cf-49f3-804f-e9db1190ece6","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:046c0b18-a9cf-49f3-804f-e9db1190ece6","Supply chain mapping for concrete recycling: The design of a closed-loop supply chain concerning the integration of novel technologies in conventional concrete production in the Netherlands","Kalioupi, Kalliopi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Franssen, M.P.M. (mentor); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Concrete is the most widely used artificial material, and shapes the largest area of the built environment in the Netherlands. Its waste stream is responsible for the highest percentage of construction and demolition waste and fundamental knowledge for affordable high-grade applications from old concrete has already been introduced. More precisely, the development of technologies that can separate End-of-life (EoL) concrete into its constituents, facilitates its recycling and reuse into new building materials and not in low-quality applications. However, in terms of concrete recycling, there is insufficient communication of the novel technologies in the construction sector and supply chain systems are not introduced in real-world problems. The current research focuses on a closed-loop approach concerning the production of conventional concrete based on a supply chain design. Specifically, the conventional and closed-loop supply chain of the production of concrete are designed in accordance with the SCOR Model. The main differences are identified and a ‘Concrete-to-concrete Recycling Plant’ is proposed as a solution to the EoL problem. It argues to change completely the conventional supply chain of concrete, and therefore recommendations for its future location in an urban environment are given. Additionally, a calculation tool regarding the recycling plant is developed in order to evaluate the suggested solution. The present study demonstrates that for each category of concrete, either prefabricated or site-cast, a recycling plant should be located next to the prefabricated or mortar industry in order to diminish transportation and inventory costs, as well as take advantage of the operating speeds of the novel technologies that compose the plant. Results indicate that a recycling plant is in accordance with the current market conditions and constitutes an efficient solution to the EoL concrete treatment by making concrete a circular material. Further research is required on a laboratory scale in order to collect quantitative data, communicate the results, and consequently, increase the awareness and acceptance of recycled aggregates in the construction sector.","Concrete Recycling; Supply Chain Management; Closed loop","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6bdae3a5-b01d-4d18-9107-65298db39cd3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6bdae3a5-b01d-4d18-9107-65298db39cd3","The Network Predictors: Monitoring Network Measurements To Predict Corporate Performance Before It Is Public Knowledge","Canale, Roberto (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Fiebig, Tobias (mentor); van Eeten, Michel (graduation committee); Schröder, Enno (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Network measurments are mostly used to studynetwork topology, performance and security. The thesis uses network measurements in relation to large Internet corporations like Salesforce, Netflix and Snapchat. The thesis attempts to verify whether it is possible to predict company performance by monitoring network measurements. For the three corporations considered, the measurements provide insider information on the company, before it is made available to the public or released by the corporation itself. Network measurements can be used by managers effectively as a tool to understand and predict company perofrmance.","Network Measurements; Corporate Performance; Networks; KPI; Performance prediction","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2019-12-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:941be828-dbf1-40ea-90d7-5883d572abf5","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:941be828-dbf1-40ea-90d7-5883d572abf5","Evaluating the maturity of companies in supplier master data management: The design of a maturity model","Athanasiadou, Ifigeneia (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Zuiderwijk-van Eijk, A.M.G. (mentor); Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Master data is used to describe the critical entities of an organization, including customers, products, suppliers and employees. There are many challenges associated with the management of master data in large and distributed organizations. Master data management (MDM) has been proposed as way to integrate and combine data from different sources in order to provide a unified view for the main business entities. This study focuses on the supplier domain and aims to explore the challenges of managing the supplier information in large and international companies, within the supplier-organization collaboration and from an enterprise-wide perspective. The identification of a supplier can result from the combination of accurate and complete name and address information. Problems in this information can be due to hybrid system landscape, multiple ERP kernels or lack of enterprise-wide uniform data rules and standards. Common supplier master data problems include the incomplete or inaccurate name and address combination, incomplete address information, international name or address and duplicated supplier records. Although actions can be taken to manage these issues, a reactive approach to the supplier master data problems is not the optimal solution. A proactive mindset needs to be adopted by organizations to avoid these problems. There is need for the supplier information to be in a central place and with unified format and data rules, so that data redundancy and duplication problems can be eliminated. Therefore, supplier MDM is proposed to help organizations create and maintain consistent and accurate supplier information. This study aims to develop an assessment tool for companies to assess their supplier MDM practices and capabilities. Thus, the objective of this study is the design of a model to determine a company’s maturity in supplier master data management. This thesis uses the Design Science Research (DSR) approach to develop a maturity model. Five research questions are formulated, each one representing one of the design science phases. For the research questions to be answered, academic literature is consulted, and a single-case study is conducted in the procurement department at Philips.","Supplier Master Data Management; Maturity Model; Design Science Research","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:8299e3d4-5c6e-4da5-95e0-4b91511b6544","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8299e3d4-5c6e-4da5-95e0-4b91511b6544","Digital transformation: Leading the way in the Dutch insurance sector: A multiple-case study within the Dutch insurance sector focused on micro-foundations of growth performance","Berntsen, Thomas (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Werker, C. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","This paper presents a new approach combining dynamic capabilities (DCs) theory and stages of growth model theory determining that growth leaders in the insurance sector surpass pre-digital organisations operating in traditional markets due to high embedded learning capacity. I conducted nine in-depth structured interviews with senior and director-level experts working in the Dutch insurance sector. This allows for generalisability within the Financial Services sector, being very diverse: varying between pre-digital organisations and digital enterprises. This setting provides a useful context to explore how Dutch insurance businesses individually build DCs that bring about change by exploring past, current, future transformations, and reflect on what is desired from a normative perspective. Moreover, by focusing on the underlying processes and routines, I further investigated questions related to the methods, successes, risks, and failures identified at Dutch insurance companies that trigger or hinder the development of DCs for digital transformation.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3b8f70b3-4339-47cb-ada7-2109dd6b0c25","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3b8f70b3-4339-47cb-ada7-2109dd6b0c25","Supporting company decision-making to transition from project to product platform: A case study to determine minimum product platform functionalities","Laninga, Bern (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (graduation committee); de Bruijne, M.L.C. (mentor); Ester, Fedor (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Several high-tech companies that develop creative new technological products fail to enter the market. For entering the market, some companies aim to use a transition from a customer engineering project to a so-called product platform. A product platform is a technological design that meets the needs of a core group of customers and can be modified by the addition and substitution of features. Scaling to a product platform enables a company to receive a higher profit margin on sold products then possible when performing projects. However, companies that seek to transition from a project to a product platform experience challenges in their decision-making of the functionalities of the product platform. So far, there is no literature on how companies should approach a transition from project to product platform. Furthermore, this research tries to answer a scientific follow-up question of a literature review on technology-push (TP) and demand-pull (DP) mechanisms (Di Stefano et al., 2012, p. 1291): ""How can firms capitalize both technology and demand in the process of innovation development and commercialization?"" Successfully capturing both demand and state-of-the-art technology in the product platform could enable the company to let the technology diffuse into the market. This research aims to help high-tech companies and contribute to scientific research. Therefore, this explorative research executes a single case study and delivers a framework to communicate the captured knowledge. The formal research objective is: ""Design a framework to support companies decide on the minimum functionalities for a product platform when the company wants to transition from project to product platform."" This study delivers a framework that helps companies decide on the minimum functionalities for the product platform. The framework structures the process and ensures that all employees can find a balance between knowledge of technology and knowledge of customers. The result can be a product platform that contains unique selling points and meets the shared actual needs of the customers of a so-called unique selling market (USM). In this way, a company can find a balance between TP and DP mechanisms, which enables the company to diffuse its technology into the market. This research was conducted through multi-method research. A single case study at a high-tech company developing an unmanned surface vessel (USV) enabled the research to discover and define the empirical problem. The literature study on TP and DP mechanisms discovered the applicability of the factors ’technology adaption and diffusion’ and ’organizational competences’. Both provided input for a first framework design. Interviews validated the framework 1.0 and a set of functionalities were developed for the product platform of the USV, which enabled the development of framework 2.0. Finally, a workshop delivered the results of the interviews to the employees and validated framework 2.0. The framework provides valuable knowledge to high-tech companies that want to transition from project to product platform. Implementing the decision-making process can enable the company to select the minimum functionalities that capture both technology and demand in the product platform. Framework 2.0 contributes to the scientific literature by elaborating on the discussion how companies can balance both TP and DP mechanisms (Di Stefano et al., 2012; Lubik et al., 2013) by the use of existing literature (Ortt and Schoormans, 2004; Ortt et al., 2013;Moore, 2014; Lubik et al., 2013; Gawer, 2014).","Product platform; Diffusion; Market adaptation phase; niche strategies; Product development; Functionalities","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1adc2972-db09-4583-b2da-05fd4e462941","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1adc2972-db09-4583-b2da-05fd4e462941","Startup Success Prediction in the Dutch Startup Ecosystem","Camelo Martinez, Diego (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","What makes a startup successful? How to define success? Existent models on startup success prediction often left aside significant predictors which may not be available in typical business databases such as crunchbase. com. In this research, focused on a population of five thousand organisations from the Dutch startup ecosystem, we go beyond previous approaches and deliver predictive models that include novel and distinctive variables. To achieve this goal, we depart from an extensive selection of variables drawn from the literature review. The initial selection is discussed, refined and enriched by carrying out interviews with knowledgeable actors in the ecosystem. At the end of the study, a total of eight significant predictors are used to construct three predictive models on startup success. The first model predicts a startup having total funding of one million euros or above, the second model predicts a startup having ten or more employees, and the third model predicts a startup having an average annualized return of at least 20% in the past three years. After testing the models, accuracies of 71%, 71% and 76% respectively are obtained. The results of this research are meant to be used by the organisation techleap.nl. By enriching the data, employing more sophisticated MLmodels and conducting this research at different points of time, techleap.nl will be capable of monitoring and predicting the performance of the ecosystemboth accurately and dynamically.","Startup Success Prediction; Predictive Modelling","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:075f0b87-636e-4781-a367-3e2d56ad4cc9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:075f0b87-636e-4781-a367-3e2d56ad4cc9","Commercialization Strategy for the Pharmaceutical Industry","Shah, Maulik (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); de Bruijne, M.L.C. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","This thesis report is aimed at analysing two phenomena, the first being - the major trends which are shaping the pharmaceutical industry currently. The industry is witnessing massive strategic shifts, routine upgrades to new drug technologies in a dynamic regulatory and market environment. The growth rate of the global pharmaceutical industry is projected to exceed 1 trillion dollars by 2022 (Lervolino & Urquhart, 2017). There are increasing expectations from pharmaceutical companies to introduce advanced products and technologies for the welfare of the people. This objective of this descriptive study is to analyse market, technological and strategic trends, the interrelations, and to some extent, the impact of regulatory environment on the pharmaceutical ecosystem. Secondly, this study lays a special emphasis on personalized medicine and assessing its current and future scope amid these changing dynamics. A combination of systematic literature review and expert interviews was undertaken to achieve the above stated objective. The study is qualitative and involves analysis of opinions derived from expert interviews cross verified with scientific literature. The key findings are stated below: Since traditional pharmaceutical companies now face increasing market and regulatory pressures to differentiate their products, they are looking for alternate business models. This pressure is supplemented by a change in payer preferences and healthcare budgets set by governments across the world. High risk of drug failures further adds on to this. Many companies are experimenting with radically different product lines such as biologics and biosimilars. In the recent years, pharmaceutical companies in conjunction with biotechnology companies have identified the potential of technologies such as genetic profiling, advanced diagnostics etc. to understand the effects of drug interactions with the human body. However, the use of such technologies remains largely confined to highly specialized therapeutic areas such as oncology. The main reason is the economic barrier it faces. The costs of most personalized drugs are extremely high, and this affects the market access of a drug. It was also found that, the readiness of the facilitating environment (patient data repositories, Information technology infrastructure) etc. is also essential for commercializing personalized medicine. Healthcare Institutions, service providers are still not equipped to deal with personalized medicine on a mass level. Hence personalized medicine is predicted to remain as a niche offering limited to a select few therapeutic areas such as oncology in the foreseeable future. Two promising avenues for rapidly commercializing personalized medicine were identified: The first relates to develop financing mechanisms for pharmaceutical companies so that they can develop novel drugs for people with serious medical conditions. The second avenue which was identified was designing optimal risk sharing agreements between pharmaceutical companies and the payers. For a detailed understanding of all trends, the relationships amongst them and the industry readiness to transition to personalized medicine, please refer to this report.","Pharmaceutical; personalized medicine; drug; trends; interrelations; strategy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3eda1bfa-ed8c-47a9-b811-2998ce846927","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3eda1bfa-ed8c-47a9-b811-2998ce846927","Barriers to Digital Transformation: A case study of a chemical B2B company","Krishnamurthy, Anusha (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Poel, I.R. (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Krapfl, T. (graduation committee); Molteni, P. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Digital transformation is taking place all around and there is hardly anything has not been affected (Reddy & Reinartz, 2017). It is reshaping a wide range of activities, influences the way we work, our communication and our consumer behaviors (Piccinini, Hanelt, R.W., & L.M., 2015). Benefits are less visible in certain situations, but a lot of administrative processes can be automated or digitized and manual labour can be reduced (Salo, 2006). In a business context, digital tools are widely adopted as ERP, CRM and e-business solutions, however some, like e-business exhibit a significant gap between adoption and widespread adoption use (Zhu, Dong, Xu, & Kraem, 2006). Various theories predict the adoption of technologies such as innovation diffusion, TAM and TOE Framework, but there is a gap in digital transformation literature that depicts the barriers to digital transformation, particularly taking into consideration its nature as a discontinuous change process that holistically transforms its people, organization, structure, in the pursuit of value creation (Henriette, Feki, & Boughzala, 2016). Furthermore, the chemical B2B industry has garnered a reputation for being a latecomer industry (Koehn, 2018). New startups have begun to enter the market where they leverage platform e-commerce services to lower prices and retain cost advantages, where large incumbent companies hesitate to try digital channels.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:4cc834d7-498a-4bda-8b18-ad1828b12311","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4cc834d7-498a-4bda-8b18-ad1828b12311","The Effectiveness of Climate Change Policies for Decarbonization: A Comparison Between India and the UK","Menon, Amritasree Menon (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Climate change has been largely attributed to global temperatures rising over the years. This has been further mitigated by the increased usage of fossil fuels, deforestation, increased livestock farming, and chemical emissions, as a result of the large-scale industrialization of developing nations, combined with the increased consumption of goods and services all across the world (Steffen et. al., 2018). While separate research can be conducted in individual fields, it has become increasingly apparent that interdisciplinary research is imperative. The Kaya Identity was formulated by Yoichi Kaya to form a relationship between carbon emissions and economic and technological factors, particularly in the form of ‘growth factors’ in this thesis. The Kaya Identity has since been a mainstay of analyzing carbon emissions by internationally acclaimed bodies like the United Nations. To specify the research objectives a few research questions were asked: What form have policies to curb carbon emissions taken until now and what are the main points of differentiation between developed and developing countries? Using the Kaya Identity framework, what have been the main trends in energy efficiency and carbon intensity, thus identifying the main factors that policies have been aimed at correcting? What are the trends in energy efficiency and carbon emissions in each of the main sectors of the economy: transport, industry and manufacture, energy and heat, and buildings? What are the main deep decarbonization pathways which can be implemented by a developing economy (India) and a developed economy (the United Kingdom)?
To find answers to these questions, metadata over a period of thirty years was decomposed over the different sectors in India and the United Kingdom. The results of the decomposition showed that while the United Kingdom showed a decreasing trend in carbon emissions over time, India has shown an opposite trend. Also, technological factors have had a sufficient impact in offsetting carbon emissions in the United Kingdom, shown by negative growth percentages. Similar trends are observed in most individual sectors in the UK, except for the building sector, where the technology factor has not sufficient to offset the scale factor, showing us that it is a sector which needs particular focus. In India it is evident that the effect of technological factors needs to be enhanced, since the scale factors will. In each of the chapters, policies which were implemented for corresponding sectors looked at as well.
A regression analysis was then done till the year 2050 to predict the future trends of carbon emissions, followed by a stakeholder analysis of a possible technology in each sector. A two-phase solution is suggested since the demand for energy will never cease; first by integrating carbon capture technologies into existing industrial methods, followed by large-scale investments into the research and development of technologies with a much higher efficiency which have a greater chance of mass acceptance into society and industry without discounting important stakeholder values. This will reduce the rate of carbon emissions released into the environment till a truly sustainable result can be achieved.","Decarbonization; Policy; kaya identity; Economics","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6da7ece7-77e2-4ca2-b4b2-d9623c052630","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6da7ece7-77e2-4ca2-b4b2-d9623c052630","Towards a Responsible Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: The case of Royal Philips","Ruiz Reina, Juan Camilo (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Poel, I.R. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Duran, J.M. (graduation committee); Franco, Andrea (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in healthcare is expected to set a paradigm shift to medical practice because these systems will have a significant role in applications such as diagnosis-support and image analysis. However, this implementation does not come without risks. There are important ethical concerns that should be addressed beforehand to ensure public trust and acceptability. Privacy, safety, transparency, reliability and potential biases are some of the issues to consider. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) frameworks have been designed by academics to tackle this sort of problems but there is no application of these frameworks in the field of AI in healthcare. This problem is even more salient in the private sector, due to the unawareness of the RRI concept in industry. Consequently, the research objective of this project was to offer recommendations on how to implement RRI practices to avoid potential risks and improve the social acceptability of AI. For this, we studied the case of Philips and carried out interviews with the company’s experts in AI and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This information was complemented with a comprehensive study of the literature on topics related to AI in healthcare and RRI. The results from these activities were used to create a roadmap to introduce RRI practices in the AI innovation activities within Philips. The results showed that large companies should build upon their existing CSR practices to develop RRI. This will increase the acceptability of RRI within the research and development (R&D) teams. Based on that, we came up with 14 recommendations for the case of Philips. These actions range from current practices, such as continuing with the rigorous process of patient data selection and curation, to novel solutions such as including better interactive features in the design of telehealth platforms (i.e. virtual reality, video calls or social networks). Further research can be carried out in different companies to come up with common principles that contribute to the creation of a more comprehensive RRI framework for AI in healthcare.","Responsible Research and Innovation; Artificial Intelligence; Healthcare; Philips; PRISMA Project","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9f598986-2d7b-43a4-878c-1eaad42b4fbf","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9f598986-2d7b-43a4-878c-1eaad42b4fbf","Entrepreneurial Ecosystem influence through the Start-up life cycle: a comparative study between Delft and Vilnius","Gliaubertas, Julius (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Khodaei, H. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","An entrepreneurial ecosystem has become a paradigm between policy makers, regional developers as well as profit seeking organizations to spur start-up establishment and growth rates. Numerous studies have focused on conceptualization of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the potential benefits that may be accrued regionally by effectively developing a bedrock for start-ups. This study is one of the first to compare two technically oriented regions, to find insights into intricate relationship between entrepreneurial supportive ecosystem and start-up growth from firm-level point of view. The data for this study was collected in Delft, The Netherlands, and Vilnius, Lithuania, to see the effect of these entrepreneurial supportive ecosystems when contextual factors are taken into consideration.A literature review was conducted to understand the macro-level perspective of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the firm-level critical junctures during the development process of these high-tech start-ups. An entrepreneurial ecosystem model highlighting the most important support factors, and a simplified start-up life cycle model are presented. A conjoint model including contextual regional differences is designed as the foundation for the study - to understand to what extent an entrepreneurial ecosystem supports firm-level business activities.The data for this study was collected through a digitally distributed survey, desk research and several expert interviews. The qualitative information was used to highlight main business activities at each start-up life cycle stage. The quantitative information, regarding start-up perceptions at these stages, was analysed using an independent samples T-test, correlation matrix and mean ranking.It was found that start-ups in Vilnius mostly occupy IT Service, Fintech and Hardware industries, while Delft start-ups operate in deep-tech/high-tech, hardware and Med-Tech industries. These differences in combination with contextual interpretations explain some of the differences occurring in entrepreneurial ecosystem support evaluations. The results show that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is most supportive in the early stages of start-up growth with diminishing effects on later stages. Raising financing capital has been found to be highly supported by entrepreneurial ecosystems in both regions, even though start-ups did not perceive this activity as very important in neither of growth stages. Research and Development support in both regions was perceived as average from founders in both regions. Considering that Delft bolsters a high-quality university which should induce R&D activities, the support is cancelled out by the differences in occupied industries and their respective competitiveness. This means that more R&D support is needed for start-ups in Delft. Moreover, legal support has been found to be higher in Delft and attributed to a more robust regulatory system in The Netherlands. Lastly, it was found that considering important business activities at growth stages, start-ups mostly rely on internal capabilities to grow in later stages. This thesis report contributes to paving way for the conjunction of entrepreneurial ecosystem and start-up life cycle academic research field using a firm-level and holistic approaches. The study and its results should provide insights for entrepreneurial ecosystem facilitators, such as incubators or accelerators, and start-up founders alike. Entrepreneurial ecosystem support strength changes from early to latter stages shows facilitators the need to closely study start-up requirements to navigate stage-contingent critical junctures in order to provide effective support. ","Entrepreneurial Ecosystem; Start-up Life Cycle; Start-up Growth; Comparative study; Start-up Activities; Entrepreneurial Ecosystem support; Entrepreneurial Context; Context","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:956dddde-b6e5-41c2-a859-9bf7a4d1ea5d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:956dddde-b6e5-41c2-a859-9bf7a4d1ea5d","Comparative enviro-economic impact assessment of Dutch chlorine production systems: Investigating different methods for monetizing environmental externalities","Diafonidis, Orestis (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Korevaar, Gijsbert (mentor); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Schröder, Enno (graduation committee); Tsalidis, George (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","To fend off the probable adverse effects of climate change as well as the subsequent economic and social impacts as a consequence of humans’ industrial activities, drastic changes are required in the way of processing, managing and exploiting natural resources. Based on a case study, the present report combines life-cycle assessment and life-cycle costing techniques on the basis of environmental externalities monetization with a view to conducting a multi-perspective comparative assessment of different chlorine manufacturing systems so that to identify which alternative can lead to the lowest environmental footprint and cost-intensity. Our findings suggest that the most cost-effective and less environmentally-intensive technical solution concerns the modification of the electrolysis cell’s configuration type from gap to zero-gap one when the heat is supplied by an on-site CHP facility. This modification is accompanied by 39% reduction of CO2 emissions in the membrane electrolysis stage and 24% reduction in the total CO2 emissions per ton of chlorine produced. Moreover, annual savings and profits increase while chain-related environmental costs substantially decline.","Life-cycle Assessment; Life-cycle Costing; Environmental Externalities Monetization; Monetary Valuation Methods; Chlorine Production Systems","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7ae1c272-eeba-44ab-992c-2bd7c44fe33a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7ae1c272-eeba-44ab-992c-2bd7c44fe33a","The Role of Consumers’ Knowledge in Battery Electric Vehicle Diffusion: A Study of the Norwegian Battery Electric Vehicle Advancement Through Structural Equation Modelling","Pettersen, Aleksander (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); van Wee, G.P. (graduation committee); Rook, L. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are considered an important contribution to the global task of creating a greener society as it allows for the benefits of commuting to sustain, without the consequence of pollution. Consequently, central and local governments across the globe are attempting to spark the diffusion of BEVs through various measures such as financial incentives, developing charging networks or other distinctive benefits. In this process, understanding and exploring the factors which affect consumers to transition from Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) to BEVs is essential for the salient actors attempting to increase the adoption rates. In this thesis, we aim to add to this branch of BEV research by investigating the factors influencing consumers’ adoption intention of BEVs while introducing the element of consumers’ BEV knowledge and familiarity. To analyse these effects, a conceptual structural model based on an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed and analysed. The conceptual model involved a total of eight variables: Consumer’s knowledge, risk perception, perceived usefulness, attitude towards BEVs, BEV incentives, incentive awareness, intention to adopt a BEV, and the side-by-side comparison to ICEVs as a vehicle alternative. The model was then empirically tested through an extensive questionnaire survey involving data from 266 consumers in the BEV pioneer Norway. To collect this data, the researcher utilized a combination of snow-ball and convenience sampling where the survey was spread through online platforms. Further, the data was analysed through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in the software IBM SPSS AMOS to determine the validity of the conceptual model as well as the effect among the variables. To evaluate the results, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed. The results of this analysis indicated that the conceptual model was a good fit despite its complexity. In regard to consumer’s knowledge, the analysis indicated that there was a strong and significant total effect on the adoption intention of BEVs. More specifically, knowledge functioned as a strong predictor through mediating effects of increased perceived usefulness, improved attitude and reduced risk perception related to BEVs. In addition, Knowledge was found to have a strong and significant positive total effect on the mentioned side-by-side “comparison to ICEVs” variable. Further, through a separate regression analysis, the results also revealed the knowledge variables was found to have an explained variance of .3 in regard to the “intention to adopt” variable. This was significantly higher than any other variable in the analysis. Further, the analysis showed that perceived risks could be a considerable psychological barrier against accepting and adopting BEVs. This barrier, however, was significantly reduced in accordance with increasing levels of consumers’ BEV knowledge. Lastly among the SEM key findings, attitude towards BEVs was found to have the strongest direct effect on adoption intention in the model. A variable which again was found to be strongly positively influenced by consumer’s knowledge about the vehicles. The descriptive statistics of the analysis also found noteworthy characteristics in the sample population. For instance, the data revealed that the average knowledge and familiarity levels among the population were as high as 5.82 on the 7-point Likert scale used in the survey research. In combination with the discovered effect of knowledge (on “intention to adopt” and “comparison to ICEV”), this finding could indicate that high levels of BEV knowledge might be an important contributor to Norway’s disproportionately large adoption rates compared to that of other salient actors. One should be cautious, however, to draw this conclusion without performing a similar study in a comparable setting and location. Further, the statistics revealed an average score of 6.29/7 on the variable measuring the awareness of the government incentives in Norway. This is another strong sign that the country has succeeded in spreading information on the topic among its population. Another interesting finding in this regard was the low satisfaction levels with the Norwegian charging networks. With an average score of 3.62/7 (SD=1.57) among the sample, it is clear that a large part of the respondents are dissatisfied with the charging infrastructure. However, the low satisfaction levels do not seem to have a large impact on the intention to adopt BEVs as there was found no significant effect among these variables. A demographic regression analysis with the independent variables of gender, age and education on the dependent variable “intention to adopt” was also performed. This revealed that both gender and education had a small, yet significant effect on the dependent variable where men and high education was associated with higher adoption intentions. Age, on the other hand, had no significant effect. In sum, the main takeaway from this study is that consumers’ knowledge of BEVs should be taken into consideration when attempting to manage the adoption of the ""green vehicles"". Norway has succeeded in diffusing knowledge of BEVs and fiscal incentives within its population, and this might be part of the explanation for their disproportionally large adoption rates compared to other salient actors. The recommendation based on the results in this research is therefore that governments aiming to substitute ICEVs with BEVs should take measures to spread information and educate potential adopters on BEVs and its technology. Achieving this would improve the overall attitude towards BEVs, increase the perceived usefulness and limit the existing risk barriers. In turn, this would increase consumers’ willingness to adopt BEVs and contribute to the global task of creating a greener society.","Battery Electric Vehicles; SEM; Diffusion; Knowledge; Norway; Quantitative analysis; Causal modelling; Consumer behaviour; adoption of innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d31d05ce-1419-48c0-ae92-7e7e80d09bb0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d31d05ce-1419-48c0-ae92-7e7e80d09bb0","Establishing relationship between value proposition and concept validation","Mohanta, Shibani (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (graduation committee); Lier, Han van (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Fuzzy front-end innovation (FFEI) is the most challenging and unmanageable stage of new product development. This is due to the uncertain and dynamic nature of product, market and consumer knowledge related to innovation. Value proposition creation (VPC) process is a part of FFEI. The scope of the research of this thesis is from VPC kick-off until finalisation of the concept. It involves opportunity exploration, generation, prioritisation, validation of ideas and concepts. Although VPC is being studied in academic and by organisations since decades still organisations are going through a high number of iteration and continual change of scope of VPC process before finalising the concept which is accepted by consumers. The acceptance of the concepts is checked qualitatively and quantitative with consumers. The main reason of the failure of the concept to gain consumer acceptance is the lack of structure of VPC process, lack of understanding of attributes of VPC, lack of understanding of tools and processes required to define the key attributes, and lack of understanding of influence of innovation on these attributes of value proposition (VP). Attributes of the value proposition can be defined as the consumer, market, product, process, and organisational characteristics of value proposition. Furthermore, innovation is considered as the newness to the organisation. Hence, the objective of this research is to prepare theoretical framework showing the relationship between attributes of VP and acceptance of the concept which can be used by managers as a step by step guide to design a sprint of VPC process based on the scope of innovation. Philips is selected for this research to understand the real-life cases which involve VPC process. The initial conceptual model was prepared from literature review and desk research at Philips which is validated through semi-structured interview. Final conceptual model, theoretical framework 1, and theoretical framework 2 are prepared from case study and interview result analysis. Final conceptual model shows the key attributes of VP which influence acceptance of the concept by consumers and their role (independent variable or moderators). These key attributes are unmet consumer need, superior offer, competitive price, involvement of consumer, involvement of multifunctional team, additional cost, emotional appeal and brand influence. Theoretical framework 1 showed step by step method to guide VPC process by identifying above-mentioned key attributes for inspiration (opportunity exploration), ideation, and implementation phase. It further showed the influence of scope of innovation (incremental or disruptive) on the relationship between VP and acceptance of the concept by consumer. Theoretical framework 2 identified the tools and processes essential to define the attributes of VP to generate high concept test score from consumers. This research contributed to academia and practice by identifying key attributes of VP, establishing relationship between attributes of VP and acceptance of the concept by consumers, providing structure to the VPC sprint, defining attributes essential for different innovation type, and identifying the tools and processes needed to define each key attribute of VP.","innovation management; Fuzzy front-end innovation; Value proposition creation; Acceptance of concept by consumers; Concept Validation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2020-09-30","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:18721fa6-ab56-418b-98fc-3a4a8e7e2d9f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:18721fa6-ab56-418b-98fc-3a4a8e7e2d9f","Effectiveness of Market Segmentation techniques using Data Sharing in the Telecom industry","Gudipati, Maruthi Kashyap (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, Mark (mentor); Fiebig, Tobias (mentor); Asghari, Hadi (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Since the start of the 21st century, the amount of captured data has been continuously increasing in this digital age. With almost 2.5 quintillion bytes of data being generated and captured every day (Liang et al., 2018), researchers and companies have a strong interest in exploring the value that can be created with this data, called big data analysis. Also, since companies strive to be market leaders, they constantly evaluate methods/approaches to discover hidden trends/ potential opportunities. One method of finding hidden trends is through market segmentation, a process which can be defined as a division of a heterogeneous market into several smaller homogeneous markets to precisely understand the desires of consumers. Identifying and targeting the right consumers through market segmentation is highly dependent on the collected data. Due to the usage of obsolete data collection methods and privacy regulations, most often, companies only possess siloed data. If siloed data is used, then companies might not be effective with their segmentation strategies.
One way to ensure that data is complete and consistent might be through data sharing in a ‘data market’ between players to holistically understand the consumers. With this thought in mind, this thesis considers the telecom industry as an example and explores the effectiveness of market segmentation using shared data. The main research question of this thesis study is Before going deeply into the aim of the thesis, let’s first understand the current problems of the telecom industry. Traditionally, telecom firms have generated revenue via three streams i.e. voice, messaging and data. However, over the past decade, the market has witnessed an emergence of Over the top content players such as Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime. These players do not need any association with the telecom firms to provide their services and thereby have impacted traditional telecom companies’ voice and messaging revenue streams. In addition to this with new content frequently being updated in these OTT services, customer preferences are constantly changing, and telecom firms are finding it hard to predict these varying needs with the siloed data present in their databases. This has therefore resulted in low average revenue per user (ARPU) levels for these telecom firms. As the first step in the thesis, we performed a literature review and identified four common segmentation techniques used by the telecom industry. The four techniques are customer value segmentation, customer behavior segmentation, customer lifecycle segmentation, and customer migration segmentation. These techniques are customer-centric and are heavily reliant on data for their effectiveness. To observe if these identified techniques are employed at the industry level and to contemplate the viewpoints of experts on data sharing in market segmentation, we interviewed market segmentation experts from the industry. The following subsections provide an overview of the interviews, questions asked in the interview and findings from the interviews.","Data sharing; Telecommunication; Market Segmentation; Data Marketplaces; Big data Ethics","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","Safe-DEED",""
"uuid:0a814007-0d67-4ec0-9a7c-f789e8d80e1e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0a814007-0d67-4ec0-9a7c-f789e8d80e1e","What does an Augmented Reality menu bring to the table for a Dutch restaurant?","Iziyi, Idriss (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Lukosch, S.G. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Augmented Reality (AR) - a technology that integrates 3D virtual objects into a real environment in realtime - has recently gained a lot of attention and is expected to become a 100 billion dollar industry by 2023. Surprisingly, researchers present a different picture of AR. They wonder about the functional benefits of AR and the impact of AR applications on customer engagement and buying behavior. There is also a striking lack of empirical evidence. This study aims to close these gaps by being one of the first field experiments in which the impact of AR on user engagement and order value is measured in a live environment. The live environment chosen for this study was a restaurant, as restaurants have been found to engineer their menu to affect order value - so an AR menu with 3D virtual dishes could be developed to manipulate the behavior of participants in the restaurant. The participants found the AR menu to be more representative of the dishes and their portion sizes compared to the regular, paper menu. Unfortunately, this did not translate into an increased order value or NPS score. Second, it was found that Perceived Usability - a dimension of user engagement - had a direct, positive impact on order value in the mediation model presented in this study. With these findings this study provides empirical support for what has been found in user engagement and AR theory. Future studies can further explore this relationship and more interestingly, businesses and researchers can use AR and data analytics to optimize and learn from our relationship with food.","Augmented Reality; User Engagement; Empirical study; Order value; Exploratory factor analysis; AR; Mobile application; Restaurant; food; 3D","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:97c2a21d-0227-4c43-9751-e1959a5a88a2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:97c2a21d-0227-4c43-9751-e1959a5a88a2","Personalized conversational recommender system in a movie platform: the impact on user satisfaction","Feliciotti, Francesca Feliciotti (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","During the last years, as virtual assistants such as Siri (Apple), Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, spread into everyday situations, conversational recommender systems were proposed as an interactive recommendation process to connect with the user. However, there is little knowledge about the personalization of conversational recommender systems as a way to increase the satisfaction of the users. The current research focuses on the users’ experience with a movie platform. It argues that users satisfaction can only be improved if the conversational recommender system knows the preferences and the Openness to Experience of the users, and therefore gives custom-made recommendations. Specifically, the relationship between the degree of Openness to Experience and serendipitous or accurate recommendations is investigated. The present study demonstrates that overall people low on Openness to Experience significantly prefer accurate suggestions rather than serendipitous ones. Instead, people high on Openness to Experience do not have a significant preference regarding accurate or serendipitous recommendations. Furthermore, to explore whether a conversational recommender system increases user satisfaction, this study explores to what extent the satisfaction of users in recommender system is dependent on (traditional vs. conversational) recommender system mode of interaction. Results indicate that conversational recommender system exerts a positive impact on user satisfaction.","conversational recommender system; Openness to Experience; recommendations","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:156ae329-9f4f-4f18-87ae-b55544238017","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:156ae329-9f4f-4f18-87ae-b55544238017","Enabling Data Marketplaces with Multi-Party Computation (MPC): An Exploratory Study investigating the Implication of the Maturation of Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology to the Architecture and the Threat Landscape of the Data Marketplaces","Kumar, Jeevan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, Mark (mentor); Fiebig, Tobias (mentor); Hernandez Ganan, Carlos (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The emergence of the Data Marketplaces is the latest iteration in the phenomenon of data-driven transformation of the world. Data marketplaces have emerged as a new form of data-driven business models which enable trading of data between the data owners/providers and data consumers by providing the necessary technological and non-technological infrastructure. These features present an alternative to the cumbersome logistics currently involved in searching, buying and selling data; thus, simplify the data supply chains between the data-driven business entities. However, they suffer to take off into mainstream success because of a myriad of reasons. Of all the reasons, 2 of them are focused in this thesis. Firstly, the difficulty involved in architecturally enabling a data marketplace platform as the prospective enabling technologies are still immature. Secondly, the uncertainty associated with the commodification of data which comprises of the intellectual property enforcement of data (data ownership), privacy and confidentiality breach (threats), regulatory ignorance (implication of GDPR), reluctance of businesses from participating because of the previous reasons et cetera. This reason is collectively referred as due to the uncertainty around the threat landscape of the data marketplaces. Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology provide a solution to these problems. Through its capabilities to preserve the confidentiality of data architecturally and thereby securing the interests of the data actors with respect to the uncertainty of the threat landscape around data, MPC can enable safe and secure data sharing between data actors. This characteristic of MPC can help data marketplaces to overcome their challenges and foster their realisation. However, since MPC cannot handle the scale of real-life application, it is not mature enough yet to be incorporated into real-life data marketplaces. An EU funded project called SafeDEED: Safe Data-Enabled Economic Development, proposes to overcome the scalability issue and intends to achieve the maturation of MPC for real-life application. Building upon this forecast, a research was conducted to investigate the implication of the maturation of MPC technology towards the 2 problems faced by data marketplaces, architectural and threat landscape; and the same is documented in this thesis.","Data Marketplaces; Multi-Party Computation; Secure Data Trading; Cyber Threat Modelling; High-Level Architecture; Business Threat Framing; Technology Adoption; Data-Driven Business; Exploratory Study; Qualitative Research; Inductive Reasoning; Hypotheses Development; Expert Judgment","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","Safe-DEED",""
"uuid:aaa7478d-27f1-4fdc-aeaa-a24a5892db02","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:aaa7478d-27f1-4fdc-aeaa-a24a5892db02","Developments in the innovation phase: Creating a model of important factors for radically new technologies in the innovation phase","Dees, Bram (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (graduation committee); van der Duin, Patrick (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Radically new technologies, of which ‘the functionality was new to the market or the price-performance ratio was much better than contemporary products’ (Ortt, 2012), can be both risky and rewarding to develop. The innovation phase is the period from invention of a radically new technology until the first market introduction. This research into the first phase develops a model that provides guidance during the innovation phase. The main research question is: How can important factors that help or hinder the development of radically new technologies during the innovation phase be modelled? A literature review, to understand the role of the innovation phase in innovation models, uses papers from several fields of research: S-curve, pattern of development and diffusion, conditions for large-scale diffusion, Strategic Niche Management, Minnesota Innovation Research Program, Fuzzy Front End, and Sectoral Systems of Innovation. A second literature review, to understand characteristics of the innovation phase, is performed, using the same fields of research as in the first literature review, but complemented with more applied research that provides even more empirical data through case studies. All topics of interest from both the innovation models in the first literature review and all claims in the second literature review, come together in the search of factors for the innovation phase. Two case studies are performed: 3D printing and Augmented Reality. Both case studies provide new insights and improvements to the list of factors. The centre of the model is formed by a group of five factors. Those five factors go from Expectations to Strategy to Resource to Knowledge to Product. The Innovator is the self-appointed process owner who wants to create the product. The Innovator tries to manage those five central factors to maximally improve the technology’s chances. There is a special role for Resources, because insufficient focus on this factor results in a complete stop of all development efforts. The four other factors all have influence on the five central factors. It is up to the Innovators to increase help to the five central factors and to decrease any problems. Examples are to use demonstrations to increase expectations or to secure funding, or to deal with a complete lack of demand for the technology, or with laws that prohibit the product from commercialization. An important limitation to the research is the hindsight bias in which the definition of a technology is based on what the technology eventually became. It is also hard to prove a model that is based on factors: the best option is to make it as plausible as possible. The most important recommendations are to add a measurement of the number of Innovators to the innovation phase of the pattern of development and diffusion, to explore the transition from the innovation phase to the market adaptation phase, and to formulate strategies for the innovation phase, based on this model and its factors.","Innovation management; Innovation phase; Pattern of development and diffusion; 3D Printing; Augmented Reality; Factors","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1c7250d4-b5f8-4a74-ae87-176c38be9167","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1c7250d4-b5f8-4a74-ae87-176c38be9167","Surviving in innovation ecosystems: Critical factors behind managers’ strategic decision-making rationale and the implications on firms’ strategies","BEKAR, Ogan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Correljé, A. (mentor); Freeke, Merle (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The twenty-first-century complex technology and innovation systems require firms to adopt untraditional organizational structures, in which the value chains are broken, and non-linear flows of tangible and intangible resources are capitalized. The literature on innovation management and network economics also recognizes that firms’ innovation strategies can no longer be described by their operational arms-length, rather it can be defined as an ecosystem that crosses a variety of industries. Previously, the networked nature of the organizations have attracted increasing attention among academics. Nevertheless, this heterogeneity in the available literature and the multivocality of the term turns the ‘innovation ecosystem’ concept into a problematic structure, and its implications become indeterminable when sketching successful innovation strategies. This thesis strengthens the idea that a better assessment of the innovation strategy success can only come through enlightening the managers’ decision-making rationale as well as external and internal forces to which they respond. In order to provide pragmatic implications for future practice and novel inquiries for innovation management scholars, this thesis takes a caption of today and scrutinizes the readers understanding of the innovation ecosystem concept. Only after that, it goes into questioning why firms follow certain strategies in the context of innovation ecosystems. The problem addressed in this thesis is how certain factors influence managers’ decision-making rationale in innovation ecosystems. Accordingly, the objective of this thesis is divided into the following four: (i) it analyses what can be considered as an innovation ecosystem; (ii) it identifies innovation ecosystem actors, their roles and strategies they employ; (iii) it analyses managers’ strategic decision-making process in innovation ecosystems; (iv) it distinguishes the factors influencing the decision-making rationale of managers who are pursuing an ecosystem strategy. To fulfil the research goals this thesis approaches the investigation from two different angles: the energy and construction sectors. The explorative nature of the addressed problem is investigated through employing a mixed methodology. First, interviews were conducted with the academics as well as managers from the field. Second a survey-based Multi Criteria Decision-Making method, called Best Worst Method, is employed. The results indicate that in a decreasing order of influence: push for strategic renewal; availability of a new market opportunity; firm’s posture; push for sectoral reconfiguration; innovation culture; access to capital; ecosystem related uncertainties; and legislative impositions are considered influential in managers strategic decision-making rationale. The findings suggest that managers pay great attention to the possibility of a new market opportunity. This drives managers to align their innovation strategies with the greater innovation ecosystem. As opposed to the traditional view, in which sourcing and commercializing value is considered stagnant, in innovation ecosystems, firms create new markets by co-operating with competitors and complementors. This thesis concludes with suggestions for the managers and future research.","Innovation ecosystem; Decision-Making; Market creation; Ecosystems; Innovation Strategy; Co-creation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:70902f3f-e9af-4910-a5aa-d49f69f4495b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:70902f3f-e9af-4910-a5aa-d49f69f4495b","Social Media as a tool to contribute to evaluation practices by the Dutch justice system concerning recidivism","Anlagan, Gökhan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Bouwman, W.A.G.A. (mentor); Rook, L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The Dutch justice department could benefit greatly from the personal digital data from social media since psychological attributes are known to be strong predictors for recidivism, and assessing the risk of recidivism (with the RISc) in the Netherlands is a very cost- and labour intensive process with low prediction power. The research question ""How can personal digital data extracted from social media, as an alternative for existing ways to measure personality attributes, efficiently and accurately contribute to determination of the recidivism probability of an individual?"" is raised to give the Dutch justice department recommendations on how the assessment of the risk of recidivism can be improved based on the predictability of psychological characteristics from social media data. We performed a meta-analysis to explore (1) the strength of the predictability of social media data of the Big Five personality traits, and (2) how potential moderators influence the accuracy of the prediction. Main findings were the point estimates of the random effects model (Agreeableness 0.26; Extraversion 0.36; Conscientiousness 0.27; Openness 0.30; Neuroticism 0.31 all with ) and the highest significant values from the moderator analysis for Agreeableness , Extraversion , Openness , and Neuroticism for the moderator 'Activity', and for Conscientiousness for the moderator 'Social Media Platform'. This study gives new insights which will help the Dutch justice department make the assessment of recidivism (1) relatively effortless, (2) cheaper, (3) more accurate, and (4) without cognitive bias.","Big five; Social Media; Recidivism; Psychopathy; Big Data","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:913b8c19-5774-4984-9a38-a4db1459e9e9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:913b8c19-5774-4984-9a38-a4db1459e9e9","Exploring potential implications of automated inland shipping on the Dutch waterway infrastructure: A scenario analysis","van Terwisga, Wouter (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, G.P. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (mentor); Quist, J.N. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Automated shipping is a technology which is highly anticipated by many actors in the inland shipping sector. Rijkswaterstaat, as the manager of the main inland waterways in the Netherlands, wants to be prepared for this technology. As the technology is still very immature, this research has attempted to reduce the amount of uncertainty in the effects and implications of this technology using a scenario analysis approach. As a result, the main research question is as follows: “What are the potential physical and digital implications for the waterway infrastructure of Rijkswaterstaat due to automated inland shipping in the Netherlands by 2050?”. As little research has been done regarding this topic, this research used literature regarding the diffusion and implementation of high-tech technologies and applied the insights from theory into a scenario analysis. This research used the intuitive logics approach for scenario analysis to develop four scenarios based on drivers, factors, and trends as found during nine expert interviews. Nine interviews were conducted to assess the uncertain trends in the development of automated inland shipping. As a result, technological development and niche development were found as the main trends that highly influence the technology and are both very uncertain. The resulting scenarios were called “Into the roots”, “Fairway bound”, “Business as Usual”, and “Market segmentation”. When the development of the scenarios was finished, an implication analysis was performed to answer the main research question. This was done by conducting an expert workshop. Six experts from Rijkswaterstaat, in the field of waterway management, and infrastructural design were present during the workshop. The scenarios were validated by the experts, and an open discussion was held to assess the implications per scenario. The results of the workshop were afterwards documented and analysed.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f1063095-3dac-40da-95b1-d3ea6c332022","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f1063095-3dac-40da-95b1-d3ea6c332022","Comprehensive Business Modelling: Hydrogen and its Integration in the Dutch Energy System: Business modelling from the perspective of a public-private partnership for the case of ‘H-vision’, a project for the implementation of blue hydrogen in the Port of Rotterdam","Okkerman, Luc (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, D.J. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Bouwmans, I. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The goal of this thesis is to determine the effects of integrating blue hydrogen into the Dutch energy system. A new framework is presented to assess several different designs for the business model, infrastructure, and market. This framework is applied to the case of the H-vision project. Three business models are tested against three energy system designs. As such we can determine if which of the three combinations presents the most benefits and also which combination is the most likely to be executed. I invite everyone to read this thesis with a heuristic perspective to learn more about the hydrogen economy and the Dutch energy system. I hope it will be as educating for you as it has been for me.","Hydrogen; Comprehensive Business Modelling; Public-private partnerships; system integration","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","H-vision",""
"uuid:816f3a0a-b2a7-45fd-a495-f7020fa97fb0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:816f3a0a-b2a7-45fd-a495-f7020fa97fb0","The state of Baumol’s disease for the OECD countries","Mulleners, Otto (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Applied Sciences)","Roeser, S. (mentor); Schröder, E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f58c89b0-81e1-4dfa-8c19-ee718d5380cd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f58c89b0-81e1-4dfa-8c19-ee718d5380cd","Linking Energy and Logistics: Modelling a Network of Decentralised Batteries: The case study of an Electric Waterbus in Rotterdam","Hilverda, Ingmar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tavasszy, Lorant (mentor); van Duin, Ron (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Local emission of especially particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) are haz- ardous for people living in close proximity. The municipality of Rotterdam can not yet comply with national regulation regarding N Ox and the current levels of N Ox pose a health risk for society (Gemeente Rotterdam). The Port of Rotterdam and local government have set ambitious goals to reduce emissions and encourage the switch to sustainable alternatives. Companies transporting over water in the Rotterdam port area need to respond to this wider sentiment of zero emissions. The switch can be made by either transforming or replacing current fossil fuel vessels with battery electric vessels.Social relevance and the urge for more sustainable shipping have not yet resulted in large developments regarding full electric vessels. After the review of literature, a knowledge gap is formulated: ’The urge for full electric shipping and linkage to the adoption of a network of decentralised batteries.’ This research sheds light on Battery Exchange networks.Battery Exchange, the physical exchange of a discharged battery for a charged battery. Battery Exchange on vessels gives the opportunity to cope with range and charging limitations of the more commonly used stationary batteries. In this research the logistic operation of implementing a novel Battery Exchange network is elaborated upon. Research takes place at Skoon. Electrification of vessels using decentralised batteries provides major opportunities for Skoon, as the company specialises in managing battery networks. The ultimate aim of this research is to develop a model that can calculate the optimal battery exchange network configuration. The following research question is formulated:How can battery networks be implemented to supply ships with power?The Sargent model (Sargent, 2010) is one of the methodologies used to structure the research. It consists of a paradigm between the problem, conceptual model and comput- erised model. In order to create a conceptual model the framework by Robinson (2008) for conceptual modelling is used. Following the conceptual model, a functional model and consequently a computer model is developed to study the implementation of a battery pack exchange network.In order to test the model, a case study has to be executed. There are three main requirements to conduct research on modular battery electric vessels. The first requirement is the willingness of companies to cooperate in this research. The second requirement is the availability of data. Third, the energy demand of ships needs to be in the functional limit of batteries. Existing vessels can either be replaced entirely by an electric vessel or adapted to be battery compatible. An aim is to map and provide answers to the logistical challenges associated with the implementation of a new battery exchange network and investigate the financial feasibility. Interviews with various transportation companies in the Rotterdam port area were conducted to gather data and become familiarised with potential challenges. Companies include: the Watertaxi, VT group, Unibarge, Waterbus, Koninklijke Roeiers Vereeninging Eendracht, Bek & Verburg and Spido. After scrutiniza- tion, the Waterbus, KRVE and Bek& Verburg are deemed the most interesting candidates for electrification. The waterbus is the best candidate for electrification due to limited trip duration, frequent returns to fixed locations, a predictable schedule, potential for positive network externalities, Skoon brand visibility and data availability. Increased demand for sustainable transport, thus solidification of the waterbus as a daily mode of transport and an alternative to road transport has multiple advantages. First it can decrease road congestion. Second, the use of bicycles is promoted. Third, the need for road related infrastructure investments is lowered. Fourth it improves the connectivity to less accessible villages.The general functional model is turned into a computer model. Data on the Waterbus is incorporated in the model. The used Matlab model allows to minimise the costs, moreover the influence of variables can accurately be monitored. Battery Pack (BP) and charging infrastructure configurations can easily be switched and compared on both Capital expenditures and Operational expenditures using the model. In the model a genetic algorithm is used for optimisation, through sequential progression in generations the model tries to find the best configurations. Model input consists of the parameters and variables. Daily schedule, energy consumption, routes and exchange locations are fixed parameters. Moreover a variety of model alternations are tested: the battery pack capacity and installed charging power are altered. The model uses the various input variables and parameters to calculate the total amount of used BPs in model. Two exchange methods are tested. One approach is to exchange the BPs throughout the whole system. While another method is restricted BP exchange. Restricted exchange entails that the BPs are only used on one specific route. The former method is likely to require less total BP capacity while the latter methods constantly guarantees an optimal distribution of BPs. In this research we find a method to calculate and monitor the influence of variables and how it changes the optimal system configuration.Multiple experiments were executed on: price fluctuations, influence of charging strategies, change in energy consumption and different charging rates were monitored. First, price fluctuations were observed to have no influence on the total system composition. Second, also the influence of the charging strategies was limited, as only small changes on the amount of shore charging power were observed. With another division of BPs and relatively less charging power, charging strategies could have had more impact. Third, alternations in the energy consumption did have significant effect, the optimal BP capacity changed while the number of BPs stayed the same. In the last experiment the c-rate was varied with both a constant Battery Pack capacity and the solution algorithm searching for the most optimal solution. The hypothesis that: ’using BPs interchangeably throughout the network increases system efficiency’ is accepted for c-rates between one and two. However, the differences between the two exchange methods are marginal and route specific battery exchange does guarantee a steady distribution of battery packs.The most optimal network configuration given current suppliers is provided. The amount of batteries, effective Battery Pack capacity and required shore power on three different locations are depicted in the table, for a maximum c-rate of one. The research has a variety of limitations. First, the research is especially suitable for scheduled transport over water, application of the model for on-demand traffic would require alternations and incorporation of margins for uncertainty. Second, accessible data on energy consumption of vessels is a hard to find, the reliability of the data is an un- certainty. To cope with the uncertainty and test the influence of variability, fluctuations are incorporated in the model tests. Third, there are charging strategies which have been disregarded due to practical restrictions on the amount of model characteristics. Fourth, the impact of schedule changes has not been assessed.It is concluded that in establishing sustainable transportation over water, the model can help overcome range and charging time related limitations, while minimising required resources. Model optimisation and insight in the necessary resources the following advantages. Parameters can easily be adapted if changes occur in for example: the schedule, level of consumption or charging rate. Additionally, insight into the relevant information makes the operation of a battery exchange network more comprehensible for managers. Moreover, optimisation can make the implementation of a battery network and full electric propulsion financially more attractive. The research provides insights for Skoon in assessing the possibilities of battery exchange networks and serves as guidance in scrutinising other emerging markets.The main recommendations, for both Skoon and future research are enumerated. First, map battery lifetime, more specifically in-dept scrutiny on the relation between fast charging and battery degradation could provide new insights. Second, partner up for the development of a battery exchange method. Third, extend the model with extra vessels, linking additional customers to exchange Battery Packs with different clients in one network. Fourth, the integration of a visual display, to more efficiently communicate the model performance. Fifth, include more elaborate energy consumption measurements of vessels incorporated in the model.","Energy; Logistics; Exchange; Batteries; Port; Rotterdam; Swapping; Electric; Vessels; Sustainable; Network; Electrification; Decentralised; Optimisation; Simulation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2020-09-16","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7a2b00c0-663b-4334-b2f2-98bc2a39cb32","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7a2b00c0-663b-4334-b2f2-98bc2a39cb32","Marketing intelligence system implementation in B2B service marketing environment: An explorative case study","Kowlesar, Kavish (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Cunningham, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","PROBLEM The business and marketing environments of today are rapidly changing due to several trends in society and in the market (Kotler & Keller, 2016). To maintain their position, companies must continually renew their knowledge management systems. The emergence of information technology (IT)-based intelligence systems suggests more possibilities for gathering knowledge than ever before. These possibilities can help to better meet the information needs of marketers in corporate setting. Sparked by implementation of such technologies in the business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing environment, business-to-business (B2B) marketers of the case firm (an IT consulting company) were interested in the possibilities that implementation of state-of-the-art IT based intelligence systems would offer for meeting their information needs. The objective of this research was, therefore, to explore the possibilities of intelligence systems that could add to the marketing information system of B2B marketers. This resulted in the following research question: How should an intelligence system look like to effectively add to the B2B marketing information system of an IT solution consulting company? The literature suggests that differences exist between B2B and B2C marketing. These differences point to different intelligence needs in B2B, which should be met with a different marketing information system. However, literature on the specific intelligence needs of B2B marketers and their marketing information system was not available. Furthermore, the existing literature provides enough knowledge on intelligence systems, but lacked on specific knowledge on IT based marketing intelligence systems, let alone marketing intelligence systems designed specifically for B2B marketing. Based on the available literature on overall intelligence systems, a framework was made that combined several methods and possibilities for intelligence systems. By adding challenges for implementation, this framework could help in determining how an intelligence system for specific purposes would look like. The identified gaps of the literature, combined with the challenges for implementation for intelligence system provide an overview of what information is needed about the B2B marketing environment to answer the research question. METHODOLOGY The information needed for answering the research question was extracted by means of an embedded case study on an IT consulting company. Several units of analysis were distinguished, based on general approaches to B2B marketing. In-depth semi structured interviews with the marketers within the case company were used to gather data. The topics were based on the information gaps in the literature, combined with knowledge from several resources about the marketing environment such as observation, available documentary and introductory interviews. The interviews were transcribed and coded using specialized software (Atlas TI). The analysis focused on finding relationships between key concepts found in the interviews. FINDINGS By using this methodology, three phenomena were found. First, by linking the available marketing information system with the marketing needs that were suggested by the marketers, gaps could be identified, which could be used in the development of an intelligence system tailored to the needs of the case company. Converging evidence was found between the identified units of analysis suggesting the existence of an intelligence gap for knowledge on the people working at their customers. Specifically, the B2B marketing information system does provide information on customers, however does so on (too) high (read: general) an abstraction level. The B2B marketers indicated a need for information on a lower (read: more personal and precise) abstraction level, specifically: interest, hobbies, roles, activities, how they are linked together and whether they are part of a decision making unit. Second, the interviews also produced a list of potential data sources for an intelligence system. Scoping these sources towards the needed intelligence suggest that an intelligence system should make use of user-generated content (i.e. social media, blogs and forums), online published interviews and surveys. These sources might contain relevant information, but they are in textual unstructured format. Finally, the preferences for presenting the intelligence were extracted from the marketers. The marketers would prefer intelligence presentation to be implemented in other systems. They would like to have a search option, and they preferred easy to use display of the intelligence. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Based on the found phenomena, choices could be made using the framework for intelligence system implementation based of the literature. The proposed intelligence system design was built from the following layers: (1) the intelligence system will use user-generated content (UGC) (i.e. social media, blogs and forums), online published interviews, and surveys as data source. (2), Data will be extracted from these sources using natural language processing methods such as named entity recognition, relationship extraction and sentiment analysis. (3) The extracted data will be stored in databases. (4) OLAP servers will be used for slicing and dicing of the data. (5) The data will be presented as intelligence by use of searchable relational graphs. This form of presentation could be implemented in dashboards of other systems such as the marketers’ CRM system. The intelligence system can add to the marketing information system by providing valuable insight on customers on a lower (read: more personal and precise) abstraction level. This form of intelligence is useful to the marketers, but is not currently provided decently by existing B2B marketing information systems.","marketing; intelligence systems; Implementation; B2B; Service marketing; AI; consultan; IT","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:339e94c1-d2ba-4dbd-b8d0-63cb6eeedd69","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:339e94c1-d2ba-4dbd-b8d0-63cb6eeedd69","A step beyond the food waste hierarchy in FMCG companies: A case of the Kraft Heinz Company","Zamorano de Blas, Ruben (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tavasszy, Lorant (mentor); Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Lukosch, H.K. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Global population is expected to keep growing in the coming decades. The United Nations claims that food production will need to increase by 70% due to the growth of population. It will be challenging to increase food production to those levels if the amount of food losses in the supply chain of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies is not decreased. Supply chain losses are the destruction of food which was once produced for human consumption but never reached this purpose. Supply chain losses can happen due to multiple reasons. Incorrect planning, poor forecasting or defective inventory management can be some of the root causes. This thesis proposal aims to carry out a deep analysis of food waste management in FMCG companies. The available literature will be reviewed and compared with current situation in one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, the Kraft Heinz Company. The knowledge gap will be addressed and series of improvements will be developed to enhance the food loss prevention process in FMCG companies.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d6ff0f02-f140-463f-bdcb-111e32104d1c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d6ff0f02-f140-463f-bdcb-111e32104d1c","The Role of Pilot- and Demonstration Projects in Accelerating Hyperloop: A Multi-level Perspective towards Large-scale Technological Transitions - Maglev as a Case Study","Koerkamp, Hidde (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Transport and Logistics)","van Wee, G.P. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (graduation committee); van de Kaa, G. (graduation committee); Marges, Stefan (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The contemporary transportation system is encountering drawbacks related to air pollution, noise nuisance and traffic congestion. Emerging sustainable alternatives based on magnetic levitation have emerged but failed to successfully breakthrough in incumbent regimes based on high-speed rail and air transportation. Emerging innovation systems face difficulties in obtaining enough momentum necessary to break out of the niche level and induce a technological transition. Therefore, it is important to understand the changing roles that pilot-and demonstration projects have in the build-up processes of emerging innovation systems. As a start, the role of pilot- and demonstration projects together with the state-of-the-art literature on innovation systems and technological transitions is analyzed. A conceptual framework is constructed and empirically tested with a longitudinal case study on the emergence of the high-speed maglev transportation innovation system in Germany and Japan. In conclusion, the recognition of the changing roles of pilot- and demonstration projects along the motors of innovation together with anticipation of the landscape and regime developments could result in enhanced momentum for emerging innovation systems to break out successfully of the niche level.","Pilot- and Demonstration Projects; Technological Transitions; Technological Innovation Systems; Motors of Innovation; Landscape Developments; Niche Developments; Regime; Maglev; Hyperloop","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0f5f72dd-5524-4163-a2b6-9653092af78e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0f5f72dd-5524-4163-a2b6-9653092af78e","An empirical study on the selection of business models using dynamic capability framework as a tool","Hussain, Yawar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Werker, C. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Timm, Jendrik (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Truly new business models are enabled periodically by a socio-technological disruption and most of the times, firms have to select and refine the already existing models to foster growth and sustain competition. However, the selection process is challenging as there is no right or wrong business model and what works for one firm might not work for the other. The researchers in the field of strategic management advocate that the selection or design of a business model is dependent on the dynamic capabilities of a firm which is unique to it. Teece D.J. (2018) argued that the three clusters of dynamic capability namely sensing, seizing and transforming make a framework which can be used to select or design a business model and maintain a competitive advantage. However, there exists a shortage of empirical studies that furnish granular details on selecting a business model using dynamic capability framework as a tool. Secondly, the inclusion of a value network is important for the selection of a business model but the framework ignores the complexity and advantages of working in a network environment, a common trend in the present business ecosystem. Hence, with this research, we aim to generate empirical insights and details on the selection of a business model using dynamic capability framework as a took by doing a case study on a firm operating in video on demand [VOD] industry.","Dynamic Capabilities; Business Model; Dynamic Capability Framework","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2020-08-26","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b4609d10-9318-465c-baa4-e945e7de1a96","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b4609d10-9318-465c-baa4-e945e7de1a96","A governance model for managing Robotics Process Automation (RPA)","Orynbayeva, Altynay (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, Marijn (mentor); Hernandez Ganan, Carlos (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Companies today are continually looking for new ways to digitize and automate their processes in order to maximize productivity and efficiency. Existing academic research has shown the efficiency and benefits of process automation using Robotics Process Automation (RPA). Through preliminary research, we observed that most of the companies have stagnated in a pilot or proof of concept of implementing RPA phase which implies that they are still learning how to manage RPA. The success of scaling up RPA lies in proper governance that may establish guidance, processes and mechanisms to manage and control the RPA activities in order to realize the expected benefits from technology. It is vital to assure that RPA robots are efficiently used, running as expected and following the security controls within the organization. There is a void in the academic literature which means that the current study does not provide a sufficient understanding of RPA governance, and there is no existing proper governance model for managing RPA. Therefore, the main goal of this master research is to develop a governance model for Robotics Process Automation using design science methodology from a management and operational perspective. The developed RPA governance model is based on the synthesis of the literature on RPA, IT and BPM governance and the findings from the case study analysis.","Robotics process automation; rpa; software bots; governance; Design Science Research","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a41b3676-2a3e-4c39-ba7d-13ac37579269","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a41b3676-2a3e-4c39-ba7d-13ac37579269","Restarting Greece: Secular Stagnation of Total Factor Productivity Growth and the Greek Innovation System","Chrysovergis, Vyron (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","In 2008, the crash of the housing market bubble lead not only to the collapse of the U.S financial system, but also to a Global Financial Crisis. The Eurozone was hurt, and the impact was not uniform. The “sick periphery”, and in particular Greece, still suffer from the consequences of this crisis. After three adjustment programmes and €293 billion in financial assistance, Greece is weakened and left in stagnation. The country is aging, and if this reality does not change in the coming years, we will not be talking about a lost decade, but about a lost generation, and even worse, a lost nation. When we observe stagnation in economic growth, we should examine carefully the slowdown of TFP growth. Consequently, we investigate whether there was a long-run slowdown of TFP growth in the Greek economy and what are the other contributing factors that can explain this decline. On this basis, we will propose policies and strategies to the Greek government and private sector for a new and effective National Innovation System.","Greek crisis; Innovation System; Secular Stagnation; TFP Growth; Labor Productivity","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2a479391-1431-4df5-be27-f27fb7dc5d35","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2a479391-1431-4df5-be27-f27fb7dc5d35","Enhancing Vulnerability Management for IoT Devices with Bug Bounty Programs and Responsible Disclosure","Limon De Jesus, Gianluca (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ding, Aaron Yi (mentor); Alfano, M.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The Internet of Things (IoT) will soon impact the lives of thousands of people as numerous IoT devices are emerging in the consumer market. Consumers goods consist of products designed for the consumption of final consumers. Even though IoT applications are expected to improve people's lives, security is often lacking in current IoT devices. Vulnerabilities in these type of products pose serious risks to the security and privacy of consumers. Compared to traditional electronics, IoT devices are endowed with internet connectivity that can be exploited by hackers in remote attacks. Several attacks on IoT products that can threaten the security of a large of number actors have already been observed. To minimize the risk of attacks, developers and vendors need to identify vulnerabilities in time before any malevolent individual can exploit them.
In recent years, as part of vulnerability management practices, many organizations have started to implement crowdsourced security methods such as Bug Bounty Programs (BBPs) and Responsible Disclosure Policies (RDPs). BBPs and RDPs are programs that involve the participation of ethical hackers in the security processes of organizations, reporting vulnerabilities to companies in exchange for monetary rewards or recognition. These methods present the benefit that thousands of hackers can work together with companies to identify and patch vulnerabilities. Empirical research suggests that BBPs and RDPs effectively augment existing vulnerability management practices by companies. However, the application of these programs in the field of IoT has never been studied. There are many questions open regarding the potential and future adoption of Bug Bounty Programs and Responsible Disclosure Policies. The research aim is to study and expand the literature on security practices for IoT, focusing on the application of BBPs and RDPs, and to conduct an interview-based investigation with experts in order to provide practical recommendations for companies to enhance vulnerability management practices for IoT consumer goods. For this research, the literature on IoT security and security practices is confronted with empirical data from expert interviews. The empirical data was gathered during an internship at Deloitte in the Netherlands. In total, 19 interviews with cybersecurity experts from different companies in the field were collected for this thesis. The results are employed to generate recommendations for companies to improve their vulnerability management practices with the use of BBPs and RDPs. The recommendations are directed to companies developing, manufacturing, and commercializing consumer IoT devices that want to enhance the security of their products. The main contributions of this research consist of practical and tangible security recommendations for companies to tackle IoT vulnerabilities in consumer goods, which will help enhance the overall IoT security practices. Moreover, our findings raise attention on the societal risks derived from the unsafe deployment of vulnerable IoT products into the consumer market. We create awareness on the IoT security challenge, and present a call for further actions from companies, consumers, and regulators in the IoT domain.","IoT Security; Vulnerability Management; Bug Bounty Programs; Responsible Disclosure; Crowdsourced Security Methods","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:04e81949-9076-47f9-ad15-91febbb6eef1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:04e81949-9076-47f9-ad15-91febbb6eef1","Insights in the market of recycled plastic, with practical value chain research","van Sambeek, Boudewijn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Hartmann, L. (graduation committee); van Bueren, Ellen (graduation committee); Vandehoek, Jaap (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The European Union (EU) landfilled and incinerated 600 million tons of waste in 2013, which could have been recycled and returned as raw material to the economy. Resource efficiency can regain this value and bring economic, environmental and social benefits. The EU has therefore adapted the Circular Economy Package with targets to stimulate the transition to a circular economy. These targets include reusing and recycling 55% of plastic packaging waste by 2025. Member states act to achieve those targets with subsidies and funding schemes. This enables entrepreneurs to enter the market of recycled plastic with innovations to gain Schumpeterian rent. However, only approximately 50% of starting companies are still operating after 4 years. It is crucial to increase the success rate of turning new technologies into innovations in order to reach the recycling targets. Market exploration and orientation strategies can aid entrepreneurs to gain insight in the recycled plastic market. Globalized value chain research is a commonly used method, but not suitable to address the recycling industry as it is not globalized but restricted by country borders and local governance. Value chain research methodology was used, according to a handbook written by Kaplinsky & Morris from 2001, which refers to and uses globalized value chain research methodology. For the recycling industry a specific selection was made from elements mentioned in the handbook. This enabled the execution of value chain research for the not globalized recycling industry. The interview questions and topics were made based on the required data for the selected elements. This thesis focussed on the biggest market segment of post-consumer plastic packaging waste in the Netherlands. In total 149 compounders, recyclers and converters were included in a database for a selection. Of which seven companies participated, which resulted in qualitative data that gives insight into the industry and enabled answering the research question.What is required from the value chain of the plastic recycling industry to increase the use of recycled post-consumer PPW? Converters must be able to get access to regranulate with stable MFI and crystallization time characteristics in higher quantities. Compounders can initiate this with joint design projects with branding companies thereby highlighting the possibilities of their regranulate. The optimization of the product and process for their regranulate lowers the switching costs for the converter and can bring rent opportunities. It furthermore showed to increase the sales of regranulate. The compounder requests higher quantities of mono streams recycled plastic from the recycler to comply with demand for regranulate to be used for high volume consumer goods. Recyclers however, upgrade their processes to maximize output for the Dutch ‘Raamovereenkomst’, which includes a mix stream next to the mono streams. This mix stream cannot be used by the compounders to make regranulate for the converters. The recyclers claim that they can technically increase the mono streams at the expense of the mix stream, although this leads to lower profits for them. A change is therefore required in the Dutch ‘Raamovereenkomst’ to optimize for mono stream output.","Plastic recycling; value chains; Market Research","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b2e8ecb6-6292-4393-98b7-33f513ffb02c","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b2e8ecb6-6292-4393-98b7-33f513ffb02c","Developing a model for improving trust in artificial intelligence","Srinivasan, Aditya Vasan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Asghari, H. (graduation committee); Vink, Micha (graduation committee); Krishnadath, Michel (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The increasing availability of data, computing power & advances in the algorithms has really driven the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recent years. However, many industries & societies despite realizing the value of AI are still skeptical in accepting AI, especially when several controversial incidents have come into our spotlights and the challenges that AI have been posing in recent years. This has increasingly raised the concern over the trust in AI and has become a major impediment while adopting AI. Almost every stakeholder, potential users put their concerns upfront to the developers of the technology & management and all these concerns address to one main question – How can I trust AI or Whether AI can be trusted. Addressing the concerns posed by the clients & ensuring that AI solutions developed are trustworthy and responsible has now become one of the top priority and challenges for several technology-based companies. From the stands of scientific literature, there hasn’t been substantial research done on the factors influencing the trust in AI despite the growing attention paid over the importance of trust in AI in recent times. At least, there hasn’t been enough study done on the concepts of trust in the field of AI from the management and socio-technical aspects. This research will focus mainly on improving the trust in AI by identifying the essential trust factors of data in terms of data quality dimensions (DQ) & AI model and the prime objective is to develop a trusted AI model incorporating such trust factors that can help the management & developers to assess the trust factors and improve the trust in AI. The research would mainly be employed with a qualitative study using an inductive approach in order to generate valuable theories as it is mainly supported by literature review, desktop research, interviews, and use of a case study. To be more precise, the research was divided into two phases where the first phase involves the identification of potential factors that influences the trust in data and AI model and they were primarily derived from the extensive study done on the literature review & desktop research, and the second phase involves the identification of important trust factors from the perspective of actors involved in the development of AI. Based on the findings from the interview combined with the initial analysis done on the literature review, an initial version of the model was developed. Since the model was relatively new & comprehensive, it required further evaluation with the experts and based on those reflections combined with the previous analysis (literature review & findings from the initial interviews), a final version of the model was developed. To improve the utility of the proposed model & overall research, the model was compared with some of the core themes laid by AI-based research institutions and leading tech firms to ensure that the model has considered those themes and distinguish the major value of this model. The final version of trusted AI model thus contains nine main phases involved in AI development and in each of the phases, trust factors that were crucial to be considered were tagged along with the detailed indicators for each of the phases. The trusted AI model at the end would mainly help the management and developers ( Technology creators) to establish a robust trust over the AI model or the solutions created & provide a seal of trust to the investors, clients and other stakeholders involved. From this study, identification of essential trust factors of resulting AI model and essential trust factors of data in the form of DQ dimensions were considered to be one of the prime handouts to the scientific research apart from the trusted AI model proposed.","Artificial Intelligence; Trust; Trust factors; Data; AI-models; Data Quality; Actors","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2020-08-19","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:99eff6eb-ae9c-4cba-9c81-c53895689304","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:99eff6eb-ae9c-4cba-9c81-c53895689304","Robots and re-shoring: Should developing countries start to worry?","Bendermacher, Ralf (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Schröder, E. (mentor); Hansen, H.H. (mentor); Roeser, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The world is experiencing a new technological revolution that can have profound implications for the nature of work. Currently, attention is particularly focused on the implication of the increased adoption of industrial robots. Multiple studies predict that especially developing countries are at risk to be negatively affected by robotization in the near future, in ways such as unemployment and greater income inequality. To a large extent, developing countries became integrated in the world economy through their involvement in global value chains (GVCs). The establishment of GVCs, in turn, were a direct result of an upward trend in offshoring. However, because both offshoring and industrial robots primarily affect routine and labor-intensive tasks, the labor-cost advantage of developing countries is quickly eroding and puts at risk their strong export position. Furthermore, in recent year world trade is indeed observed to slow down, which has further fueled concerns. This thesis aims to quantify how much the adoption of industrial robots in developed countries contributed to the decline in world trade experienced in recent years. We do this by regressing a measure of offshoring on the density of industrial robots and other control variables. Offshoring is quantified in terms of the offshoring index, which is constructed using two datasets by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). To get data on the adoption of industrial robots, we use a dataset that has been made available by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). The final unbalanced panel dataset consist of 29 countries, 15 industries and spans the period 1993-2015. The other factors that will be controlled for in the models include: labor intensity, wages, year-dummies, country-trends and industry-trends. Furthermore, we estimate the models using fixed-effects. Our regression estimates provide evidence for a negative and statistically significant relationship between the adoption of industrial robots and offshoring intensity. We estimate that if the density of industrial robots increases by 10% in OECD countries, then offshoring decreases by 0.29%. Furthermore, we investigate if the effects are particularly strong for certain industries. We find that the effect between robotization and offshoring particularly holds true for industries that have already robotized the most in relative terms. We conclude by discussing several policies that can help developing countries to tackle the disruptive effects of automation and safeguard their future economic development.","offshoring; reshoring; industrial robots; world trade; labor markets","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f32458de-b842-46c2-b92d-508143e844c2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f32458de-b842-46c2-b92d-508143e844c2","Organizational Readiness for Machine Learning: Exploring the key readiness factors for business adoption of machine learning","Yoon, Ahhyun (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Demand for machine learning is ever-growing in today’s business. Situated at the convergence point of big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning allows companies not only to unlock hidden insights from the data deluge but also to fundamentally revolutionize their products and services. Recognizing the opportunities, industrial players are on the lookout to partake in the machine learning journey, or some are already experimenting with machine learning. However, the disparity between expectation and action is still substantial, and subsequently, machine learning adoption remains elusive for many companies. This is partly due to the relative immaturity of the technology, but also due to a myriad of uncertainties conjoined with the adoption process. As of now, a lack of understanding of machine learning adoption in business is prevalent in both academia and practice impeding companies from creating values at scale. In brief, the way to best prepare for machine learning is still an unsolved question. In this regard, it is timely to reflect such contemporary managerial needs into academic research. With the research main question of “What are the key readiness factors for business adoption of machine learning?”, this study investigates the factors which can increase companies’ overall readiness towards machine learning. This research utilized three research strategies (i) literature review, (ii) expert interviews, and (iii) multiple case studies to answer the main research question. The main research outcomes of this research are threefold. Firstly, the research concept of organizational readiness for technology adoption is clarified and two distinctive research streams – users’ and exploiters’ readiness – are subsequently identified. Secondly, the barriers to business adoption of machine learning are consolidated. Based on this, the key readiness factors which can mitigate the barriers are identified and empirically tested. Thereby the model of machine learning readiness is developed with its constituting factors: (i) Top management support, (ii) Vision and strategy, (iii) Open culture, (iv) Multi-disciplinary team, (v) Data governance, (vi) Existence of a translator, (vii) Machine learning infrastructures, (viii) Ambidexterity, (ix) Strategic partnership, and (x) Awareness. Theses outcomes are valuable to both academia and practice. This study contributes to academia by clarifying the ambiguous theoretical concept of organizational readiness for technology adoption. For industry, this paper can be used as a white paper to understand the phenomenon of business adoption of machine learning.","Artificial intelligence; Machine learning; Machine learning readiness; Organizational readiness for technology adoption; Organizational technology adoption","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5662ef20-f05c-440f-b0b0-20f623a6d43e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5662ef20-f05c-440f-b0b0-20f623a6d43e","Using Social Network Analysis for Fraud Detection: Tracing the Path from Data to Value","Clerx, Miriam (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Cunningham, S. (graduation committee); van der Voort, H.G. (mentor); Booijink, Tom (mentor); Suppers, Anouk (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Facing the age of digitalisation, inspectorates are changing their way of working using a risk-oriented and data-driven approach. Social Network Analysis (SNA) seems to be promising in detecting fraud and simultaneously contributing to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of inspection work. SNA emphasises the structural aspects of networks to detect and interpret patterns of social entities, both graphically and mathematically. Although the emergence of big data opens great opportunities in the public domain and the benefits of using SNA in fraud detection seem to be clear cut, a more institutional view challenges the assumption that simply working data-driven leads to better deployment of enforcement assets. In practice, the way in which business value is created from big data often remains unclear. There seems to be a gap between the promises of big data and its practical realisations, in particular in the public domain. Therefore, this research considered big data in the context of SNA from an institutional perspective. This means it is assumed that actors that shape the process from data as a raw material to the final deployment of inspection capacity based on the outcome of the analysis. This research underlined a decision-making perspective which states that the way in which the alternatives are framed impacts the alternative chosen by people and in turn the subsequent decision. By using a qualitative research approach consisting of a multiple-case study design combined with action research this research contributed to two main purposes. First of all, the study had a functional purpose aimed to explore the use of SNA in fraud detection, more specifically fraud in the context of food and consumer products. Following from the analysis of two large real-world data sets, it turned out that network visualisation offers a powerful solution to make information hidden in networks easy to interpret and understand. With one glance at the network one could identify who does business with whom, which entities act as bridges between two clusters, trace suspicious patterns, and gain insight into the overall structure of the networks. Applying network metrics helped to quickly identify the important players in the networks and could be used to evaluate or predict the possible consequences of removing specific actors from the networks to destabilise the networks. Secondly, the research had an institutional purpose aimed to get insight into big data value creation in the public sector. During the research, it became evident that important assumptions and decisions have been which appeared to be fundamental for the outcome of the analysis. This prevented the creation of options or led to options that were sub-optimal. Neglecting them would be at the detriment of any SNA-ambition an organisation may hold. As the research into both areas is still in a very young state, the findings from this thesis form a starting block for other studies to expand on. Future research will be addressed to widen the empirical evidence on how big data affects public decision-making.","Social Network Analysis; Fraud Detection; Public Decision-making; Big Data Analysis","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5bd80024-6bb9-41a8-8e0e-b18ee1063e27","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5bd80024-6bb9-41a8-8e0e-b18ee1063e27","An Entrepreneurial Approach to Water Purification System in West Bank, Palestine","Fajar Sidiq, Fajar (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Doorn, N. (mentor); Kroesen, J.O. (graduation committee); Hasan, Abdelfattah R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The improvement of access to clean water is considered one of the world’s major agenda issues nowadays. The agenda to improve water access is not only considering the quantity of water but also the quality of water that should be provided for the society. The problem of the water crisis is happening in many countries around the world and needs a feasible solution. One of the regions that suffer most of the clean water crisis is the Middle-East and North-Africa. Furthermore, most of the water crisis problems are happening in the countries that are having a conflict, for example, Palestine, Iraq, and Syria. In this thesis, the case of clean water crisis will be focused on the West Bank, Palestine. The clean water crisis covers several problems that are not only focusing on technical problems but also on the governance and business opportunity problems in situations where conflicts taking place. Furthermore, this thesis only focuses on the business opportunities of water desalination and purification system in the West Bank. The goal is to develop business models for implementing the CED system in West Bank. The research also explores the cultural values and institutions of the society in the West Bank, with regard to their effects on the feasibility determination of the business model for CED in the West Bank.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:20f5e7bf-5af1-4b13-bedc-6ab73dcc6429","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:20f5e7bf-5af1-4b13-bedc-6ab73dcc6429","The People-side of Implementing Business Model Innovation: A study on the role of employee motivation, development & readiness to change in implementing business model innovation","Raguraman, Sushmitha (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Bouwman, W.A.G.A. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Latifi Rostami, S.M.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The concept of business model innovation (BMI) has taken off significantly over the last decade in the academic as well as the business environment. It is seen as an important source of competitive advantage and is increasingly being used to achieve superior firm performance. Nevertheless, the field is yet to embrace the organizational dimension, especially in the BMI implementation phase. There is more focus given towards the technical aspect than the people aspect of BM implementation. Therefore, this research draws attention towards the people-side of implementing BMI, more specifically the role of employee motivation, development and readiness to change during BM implementation and how it influences the link between BMI and firm performance. First, a set of propositions, based on literature review, are used to develop a conceptual model that depicts the role of employee’s motivation, development and readiness to change in the BMI process. Thereafter, this model is used to analyze two cases of BMI in SMEs using a semi-structured interview method, to attest and refine the propositions. Besides obtaining a better understanding of the role of employees during BM implementation, this research provides empirical evidence that explains how certain employee characteristics influence the link between BMI and firm performance. Finally, the insights obtained has practical relevance as it stimulates better organizational practices when it comes to the people-side of implementing BMI.","Business Model Innovation; Business Model Implementation; Organizational change management; Employee perspective; SMEs","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c0bd3fed-307b-4ab6-bf33-79e6f52cd991","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c0bd3fed-307b-4ab6-bf33-79e6f52cd991","Customer Acceptance of a Revenue Management Platform with Multi-Party Computation: Application of Multi-Party Computation to Revenue Management in the Semiconductor Industry","Faujdar, Vidyottama (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Fiebig, T. (graduation committee); Warnier, Martijn (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Research ProblemIn today’s competitive and fast-paced nature of conducting business in the semiconductor industry, the discipline of revenue management (RM) is often mentioned. Through a dynamic pricing capability, RM enables firms to maximize profits by capitalizing on missed revenues. Moreover, RM enables customers to receive products on short notice, by allowing them to place orders with a(n) (earlier) delivery wish date, wish price and volume. Since the semiconductor industry is characterized by volatile market demand, long production times and high capital investment (Ehm & Ponsignon, 2012), the semiconductor industry is a model representation of the manufacturing industry. Despite the benefits of RM, the manufacturing industry has not yet witnessed a widely-adopted revenue management system.In order to apply revenue management in the manufacturing industry, it is primarily important to understand that the data involved from the parties participating in the revenue management process is confidential. For manufacturers, the confidential data includes the daily unallocated available-to-promise data, which is available to commit to customers for orders on short notice. On the other hand, for customers, the maximum price that they are willing to pay for such products with a shorter delivery time is confidential. Hence, due to the confidentiality involved, as well as the need for enabling a more equal collaboration model between buyers and sellers, a secure technology that involves inputs from multiple parties is required in order to facilitate the implementation of revenue management in the manufacturing industry.Multi-party computation is a promising cryptography technology which has been theoretically studied by researchers but has not yet been practically applied. This technology is a value-added tool in the use case of revenue management because it deals with multiple parties’ confidential data and performs a computation with them securely. The outcome of the algorithm presents a revised price (based on the desired price adder range provided by the manufacturer, as well as the price wishes of the customer), a volume and a delivery date. This will allow manufacturers to secure their unallocated available-to-promise data, and customers to share the confidential maximum price they are willing to pay to receive products earlier. Multi-party computation has been proposed to be applied to revenue management by the EU H2020 SafeDEED project. We further build on this concept (SafeDEED, 2018).As a consequence of multi-party computation being an up-and-coming technology, as well as revenue management being new to the business-to-business field, it is challenging to imagine what a possible implementation of their integration is...
Problem: Lack of Water Sanitation is a global problem due to the experiment-based research required in its field, hindering scientific progress. Commercializing breakthrough technologies in Water Sanitation into the market is uncertain and there comes a requirement to design to appropriate business models. The emergence of Big Data has led firms to potentially gain a competitive advantage and firms need to understand how Big Data creates changes in business models. Managers in the Wastewater industries aim to diffuse breakthrough technologies by leveraging big data.
Goal/Objective: The objective of this thesis is to understand and study how Big data creates changes in Business Models for firms. This study helps firms diffuse breakthrough technological products and contribute to the niche literature on Data-driven Business Models (DDBM).
Design/Methodology/Approach: This thesis consists of a Single Case Study Design within a firm with a breakthrough technological product. The study consists of 17 semi-structured interviews across various units of analysis and a Focus Group exercise with 6 participants of a business unit with a breakthrough technological product. The interviews and archival records are transcribed, coded and analysed through a qualitative data software and a logical chain of evidence is maintained for validity and reliability.
Findings: The Case Study research has dealt deeper into the dimensions of the business model for a firm where there are significant changes in the Value Creation & Value Proposition phase of a Business Model. The study showcases how a Datatized Organization can be achieved by leveraging Big Data, what the organization management and governance changes are required, what the various data-driven activities are in order to leverage big data, and what the data-driven competencies that are needed to perform the various data-driven activities. Furthermore, a Data-driven Value Proposition has been derived for a business unit.
Research Limitation/Implications: Due to the lack of a team of investigators to collect the necessary data from multiple cases and coding the qualitative data was not possible due to the characteristic of the specific master thesis project. However, various validation and generalization techniques have been used to build the internal, external and construct validity. The thesis provides future researchers to aid the theoretical development of logically consistent explanations of the relationships (linkages) between well-defined components (constructs) of DDBMs.
Originality/Value: This study highlights how Big Data creates changes in the business models of firms with a breakthrough technological product, thereby adding to the body of knowledge of Data-driven business models. The uniqueness of this study is the breakthrough technological product that was chosen to keep the Value Proposition phase of the business model as constant as possible and study the changes in the other phases.","Business models; Big Data; Data-driven business models; Organizational change management; Organization Governance; Data-driven activities; Data-driven competencies; Data-enabled activities; Data-enriched products & services","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2021-08-14","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e4f0fb85-a08e-48b5-a88b-cb54b7663a42","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e4f0fb85-a08e-48b5-a88b-cb54b7663a42","Edge Computing on the Rise: Towards a Business Model Tool for Analyzing the Potential of Edge Computing for IoT Applications","Huisman, Michiel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ding, Aaron (mentor); de Reuver, Mark (graduation committee); Chappin, Emile (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Edge computing can deliver substantial value to the general idea of the Internet of Things (IoT). However, there is a myriad of potential IoT applications for edge computing. Stakeholders are left with uncertainty about how the business potential of edge computing for these IoT applications can be identified. This research contributes in solving this, by designing a business model tool that can be used to identify the business model potential of edge computing for distinct IoT application areas, based on business model viability and feasibility. Through the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), the tool has been designed, demonstrated, and evaluated. Based on the STOF ontology, and supplemented by the theoretical domains of business ecosystems and platform theory, nine generic variables have been identified to explain business model viability and feasibility. These generic variables have in turn been contextualized towards the edge computing domain, in terms of 45 contextual input variables. This is the first research that unfolds these business model variables for edge computing.","Edge Computing; Decentralized Computing; Internet of Things (IoT); Business models; Business Model Tooling; Business Model Potential","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:41d6432d-4587-463f-918a-2f82ba6204e2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:41d6432d-4587-463f-918a-2f82ba6204e2","Data as a Corporate Resource: Tracing the Path from Investments to Value","Voets, Floor (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Werker, C. (mentor); Hendriks, Jai (mentor); Akça, Ramazan (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c5863714-7daa-42ed-afea-bebcc196a344","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c5863714-7daa-42ed-afea-bebcc196a344","The Serious Business of Serious Games: A study of business models in the serious game industry","Estourgie, Julien (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Lukosch, H.K. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Bezuijen, A. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","This thesis studies how serious game developers can develop robust business models with regard to future uncertainties that these developers must be able to deal with. Twelve in-depth interviews were held with managers, owners, and entrepreneurs of serious game developers in the Netherlands to identify and describe in detail the future uncertainties that the industry faces and to form insights about various business model elements. During the interviews, a PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological aspects) was done with the participants to identify the uncertainties and the STOF business model ontology (Product, Technology, Organisation, and Finance domains) was used to structure a discussion about the business model elements. 25 Uncertainties within the industry are identified and described, and 34 business model elements are examined. Five uncertainties are chosen as input for a Business Model Stress Test. This resulted in 212 insights about how the 34 business model elements hold against the five selected uncertainties. These insights can be used as a basis for serious game developers to construct and test their own business model and do business model innovation.","Business Model; STOF; Serious Game; Business Model Stress Test","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ccb75d45-04fb-4572-9b0c-e8f4becb07f7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ccb75d45-04fb-4572-9b0c-e8f4becb07f7","The effect of environmental uncertainty on B2B-platform switching decisions: An empirical study on Hong Kong SMEs","Scharfenberg, Felix (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Context: SMEs make up the major share of the manufacturing and trading industry in Hong Kong. Recently, the industry is faced with growing environmental uncertainty that may result in new challenges, consequently giving rise to a different set of needs concerning B2B relationships. These needs may present opportunities for alternative B2B platforms to further reduce friction in SME trade. Therefore, from the perspective of platform providers, it is valuable to assess what factors drive SMEs likeliness of using alternative platforms. Objective: This study extends existing research on IT switching behaviour by linking it to organisational innovation theory. According to extant literature, environmental uncertainty may lead to increased innovativeness and adaptability in organisations. The aim is to assess how perceived environmental uncertainty affects the propensity to switch in the context of B2B platform technologies. Method: A research model was developed by adapting the Push-pull -mooring model. It was extended with context-specific antecedents. The model was empirically tested with PLS-SEM using 68 responses from a survey with managers of Hong Kong SMEs. Results: We find that switching propensity is directly predicted by pull (attractiveness of alternatives), push (satisfaction with incumbent) and mooring (perceived switching cost) factors. Further, perceived network size is found to influence switching propensity mediated by satisfaction. Environmental uncertainty is found to positively affect the attractiveness of alternatives and top management innovativeness. Conclusion: The results have several managerial implications. Since attractiveness of alternatives was found to have the largest effect, managers may be advised to focus on differentiating their offerings from incumbent products. Further, the results suggest that within-group effects play a role for platform switching. More research is needed to further explore this hypothesis.","adoption of innovation; Platform strategy; TOE framework","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6a737952-4719-42aa-8c5e-53fab61ec404","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6a737952-4719-42aa-8c5e-53fab61ec404","Factors involved in successful multi-mode standardization in case of phosphorus recovery in form of struvite from municipal wastewater","van den Eijnden, Lieke (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Values Technology and Innovation)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Doorn, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","In this research a framework is proposed including factors involved for success in multi-mode standardization. This framework was applied to identify the relevant factors in the case of phosphorus recovery in form of struvite from municipal wastewater. The following eleven factors were deemed to be relevant by experts:‘financial strength’, ‘technological superiority’, ‘compatibility’, ‘complementary goods’, ‘pricing strategy’, ‘appropriability strategy’, ‘market communications’, ‘financial support’, ‘agenda setting’, ‘current installed base’ and ‘suppliers’. To assess the importance of the identified factors, a Best Worst Method was applied from which it could be concluded that the factors ‘technological superiority’ and ‘compatibility’ were seen as most important by the experts.","Standards battles; Best Worst Method; Phosphorus recovery","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c78f41ed-8c4e-4c80-8215-61806c79b2cf","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c78f41ed-8c4e-4c80-8215-61806c79b2cf","Does Outward Foreign Direct Investment Reduce Domestic Investment?: An Industry-Level Analysis","Anbarasu, Sri Nithya Rupine (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Schröder, E. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Franssen, M.P.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","With the rise of globalisation, countries have become more connected financially and global cross-border investment flows have become more common. FDI is an important form of cross-border flow which is responsible for the spread of technology across countries and is the main source of external finance for emerging countries. In the last two decades, FDI has increased tremendously. But this has been accompanied by fears about outward FDI taking away production activities and jobs away from the home country. I look at how outward FDI affects home country investment. One can intuitively understand that a dollar of money spent abroad means a dollar less to invest in the domestic economy. Based on the theory of the financially constrained firm, I hypothesize that outward FDI reduces domestic fixed capital investment and R&D spending. I also develop a theoretical framework to distinguish the varying effects of outward FDI on domestic investment across traditional and R&D-intensive industries.By using industry-level panel data for 18 OECD countries covering the period 1995-2009, I regressed the shares of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) and R&D spending separately on the share of outward FDI both for all industries as well as specifically for traditional and R&D-intensive industries. While, outward FDI had a negative effect on domestic capital investments at the aggregate level, it did not have any significant effect while looking at specific industry types. This could be because of the reduced sample size in the individual types. Outward FDI had a negative effect on domestic R&D spending at the aggregate level and for R&D-intensive industries, but it had a positive effect for traditional industries. Thus, while fears about outward FDI taking away domestic fixed capital investments are valid, outward FDI can have both a positive and negative effect on R&D expenditure, depending on the type of industry. These results can help MNCs make strategic investment decisions taking into account their effect on their home country industry. It can also help policymakers formulate tax and industrial policies to promote home country investments.","Outward FDI; domestic investment; traditional and R&D-intensive industries","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7bd6580b-f406-48da-b560-a285f36f5fe9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7bd6580b-f406-48da-b560-a285f36f5fe9","The effect of organisational structures within the humanitarian supply chain: Enhancement of humanitarian relief based on the Dominica case","Gela, Zarife (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Setting up a humanitarian supply chain comes with diverse difficulties such as major uncertainties, dispersion of information and collaboration between different organisations. Since the environment around a disaster is uncertain and is changing quickly this could affect the performance of the relief provided. Difficulties within the collaborative relationship are likely to arise for example due to culture or language differences, but also factors such as how to communicate and exchanging information are considered to be influential on collaboration. In other words, all these organisation have their own (unique) organisational structure that encompasses the way how the organisation provides relief. This research illustrates that the presence of different organisational structures do have an effect on the relief effectiveness in areas with a high risk of natural disasters. This effect can be positive due to the diversity of different organisational structures. This diversity also includes a diversity in strengths that makes it possible for this chain of organisations to cope with changing and complex environments. However, problems within communication and information exchange between the organisations can lead to mistrust which effects the collaboration and therefore a negative performance of providing relief could occurred. Based on the analysis the use of platform technology is recommended to improve the information exchange and therefore the collaboration between the different organisations.","Humanitarian supply chain; Relief; Organisational structures; Dominica","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e4ad2f87-8c8d-4b30-8fcc-d8c928ef6f03","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e4ad2f87-8c8d-4b30-8fcc-d8c928ef6f03","Managing the development of a digital platform for Dutch healthcare companies","Kramer Gezegd Freher, Nicolas (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hartmann, L. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Platforms - defined as businesses with network effects, thereby becoming more valuable the more users they acquire - have become economically important in our current economies. They are ubiquitously present in our daily lives and drive an increasingly share of our economies. However, most platforms cease to exists within the first five years. Therefore, the goal of this study is to gain knowledge that can increase the chances of a platform reaching its critical mass – the minimum number of users required to be commercially viable. In this study, 66 healthcare providers, one industry collaborative, and one start-up participate in an action design research (ADR) to develop an entirely new digital platform within a commercial environment. The research - consisting of a knowledge-base review, interviews, focus-groups, a questionnaire - was split into four stages: 1) Problem Formulation, 2) Build Intervention and Evaluation Cycles, 3) Reflection and Learning, and 4) Formalization of Learnings. This study concluded with a failure of the platform to reach critical mass. The learnings produced by the instantiated platform and - problem are generalized, resulting in the articulation of three commercial platform design principles. These design principles aim to help the practitioner increase the chances for their platform to reach critical mass. The design principles being: Growth by Design, Mutation by Design, and Leadership by Design. Current theories were found to be primarily descriptive and suffer from a survival bias. This, as they are largely based on after-the-fact (ex-post) research and data. Furthermore, they do not account for irrational actor behavior or commercial implications. Therefore, further research is suggested, focused on the time between platform inception and reaching critical mass.","Platform; multi-sided; analytics; critical-mass; digital; design principles","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6aad2e2f-a044-42ef-9740-7f9216aeeaed","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6aad2e2f-a044-42ef-9740-7f9216aeeaed","Managing Complexities of New Product Development in the Transitioning Space Market","Grift, Misha (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Buné, Walter (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The beginning of the millenium has initiated the transformation of the space market to a globally private space industry, distinguished by relatively young and commercially minded aerospace businesses, which is known as NewSpace. Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands B.V. (Airbus DS NL) aspires to anticipate on this transition and has initiated New Product Development (NPD) of optical ground stations. Nonetheless, the existing approach to innovations does not meet the needs of the transitioning market. Therefore, the objective of this thesis was to constitute a recommendation for a redesigned NPD process for optical ground stations, which supports the realization of competitive advantage and meets the needs of the transitioning market. A design approach was applied to achieve this objective, first examining the requirements of a redesigned process, second generating a conceptual process design, third empirically testing this design and fourth establishing the implications of the results for a recommended process design. Ultimately, three requirements were derived from examining the existing NPD process of Airbus DS NL, consulting academic literature and performing participatory research. The three requirements are that the redesigned process needs to focus on the make, buy or ally decision, needs to manage complexities of NPD and incorporate the focus on industrialization and definition of the customer needs. These requirements were validated with the client. Based on these requirements a conceptual process design was generated, embodying workshops which run concurrent to the existing NPD process of Airbus DS NL. These workshops enact openness, protection of core-values, progress and substance and focus on five subjects, including the definition of customer needs, risk assessment, product design specifications, competitive analysis and lessons learned. With a case study this conceptual process design was empirically tested. Overall, the workshops have shown to generate many new insights and substantive data for continuation of NPD, especially revealing many more risks need to be assessed than earlier anticipated. Without the workshops these would not have been assessed, majorly affecting NPD outcome. Nonetheless, the empirical research has also established four recommendations for an improved workshop process. The recommended NPD process is the first step for Airbus DS NL to adjust to the changing stability in the market. Subsequent to this study, many adjustments still need to be researched as the continuation of NPD redesign is believed to be vital for ensuring competitiveness of the firm in the years to come.","NPD; new product development; NewSpace; airbus; complexity; Process design; Workshop","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:865494a0-5178-4dc8-84bf-eb58d7949031","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:865494a0-5178-4dc8-84bf-eb58d7949031","The Role of Creativity and Ethics in Responsible Innovation Behavior","Roes, Rita (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Pesch, U. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","As innovations became the source of competitive advantage for many companies, creativity became an incredibly valued trait, sought in individuals during recruitment processes for example. Creativity can be defined as the ability to generate novel and useful idea. However, as the world saw many creative inventions resulting in harmful innovations, as well as creative endeavors resulting in deceptive and even criminal behavior, many researchers started questioning the relationship between creativity and ethics. One research area of emerging necessity, which has been getting continually more attention, is the area of Responsible Research and Innovation, which analyses how the process of creating something new, on the basis of research and innovation, can be done in a more responsible way, reflecting the need and values of society (Owen, Macnaghten, & Stilgoe, 2012). In that way, it is possible to see efforts towards making the creative achievements of certain individuals or groups more ethical, which refers to the discussion between ethics and creativity. For being a considerably new area of research, there is still much left to be done. While most studies currently employ a macro perspective, focusing on how to systematize the development of a Responsible Research and Innovation concept, this work intends to identify individual characteristics of responsible innovators, thus looking at the micro level. This adds a new perspective to the scientific efforts in this area, showing a different way of approaching the same topic. Recognizing how the responsible innovative behavior happens should make it possible to better understand its motivations and how to reinforce them. By incentivizing those behaviors, society will benefit from more ethical efforts in innovation, reducing both intended and unintended harmful consequences for innovation.","Responsible Innovation; creativity; Ethics; behavior","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:368e89e6-a138-4ab3-b2c4-a1877db74399","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:368e89e6-a138-4ab3-b2c4-a1877db74399","Expectation management for innovation processes within highly institutionalized environments: A framework for analyzing the organizational consequences of blockchain technology on the legitimacy of banks, and strategic approaches to manage these effects from a communication perspective","Vreman, Marvin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Science Education and Communication; TU Delft Ethics & Philosophy of Technology; TU Delft Economics of Technology and Innovation; Ernst & Young Accountants)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Kalmar, E. (mentor); van den Hoven, M.J. (graduation committee); van der Sanden, M.C.A. (graduation committee); de Vries, M.J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","This project has researched the consequences of blockchain technology on the
expected future role of banks. And furthermore, how banks can respond to these effects to improve the innovation strategy and remain their future relevance.","Blockchain Technology; Organizational Legitimacy; Banking; Communication","en","master thesis","","","","","","Double degree in Management of Technology and Science Communication","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:15b91854-922a-4daa-a763-92c03c52c64e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:15b91854-922a-4daa-a763-92c03c52c64e","Decision-Making in Participatory Value Evaluation","de Geus, Tom (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Bruijn, J.A. (graduation committee); de Vries, G. (mentor); Mouter, N. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","In this report the potential effect of framing on the decision-making process in participatory value evaluation is researched. Participatory Value Evaluation, PVE, is a method of evaluating citizens preference targeted towards public projects and their budget. For instance, PVE can measure the preference of citizens when allocating alternative infrastructure projects with a set budgetA gap in knowledge is found in the decision-making process of the method. The validity of participatory value evaluation is potentially affected by cognitive bias effects such as framing. The main question of this research is: Is there a measurable difference in outcome of the decision-making process between emphasis-framed alternatives within the participatory value evaluation method? The used method is a between-subject design, laboratory experiment. Three versions of the same basic PVE are constructed. A control version with neutral descriptions of the potential projects, and two framed versions through the structure of one-sided emphasis framing. A convenience sample of 181 participants is used, with each version of the PVE receiving roughly 60 participants. The three versions of the PVE were kept exactly the same with exception of the framed descriptions. A difference between the groups is shown to be significant on a project level in six out of six tested projects. Concluded is that, in general, emphasis-framing has an effect on the decision-making in PVE. The effect of framing is argued to have a limitation. When participants feel strongly about a certain topic, the frame influences the outcome less, this is known as issue importance. Recommendations to further research are made, as a method for mitigating the influence within PVE can be researched. The impact of overall presentation of different projects, in terms of framing with images, or extensive project descriptions, can be researched. Expert interviews were conducted, to gain insight in how the PVE method is perceived by policy-makers. The overall consensus is that PVE is a useful method of involving citizens. The PVE can be used by policy-makers as an advisory tool. Framing within PVE, is unwanted when testing the preferences of the citizens. However, it might be useful to emphasise the importance of certain projects. Therefore, it is argued that the use of framing should be an ethical consideration.","Decision-making; Framing; Participatory Value Evaluation; Emphasis Framing; Participatory Budgeting; Willingness to Pay","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:89f8a1f6-2960-4e22-b7ad-1aaa04e77870","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:89f8a1f6-2960-4e22-b7ad-1aaa04e77870","Technological and institutional maturity based strategies to stimulate the implementation of infrastructural innovations: A case study based analysis of the implementation of CCS in the port of Rotterdam","Kaljouw, Astrid (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Stikkelman, R.M. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","Climate change is a major global problem which is related to the increase in greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a potential solution to this problem. However, the implementation of CCS seems to be challenging. The port of Rotterdam also intended to reduce its CO2 emission with the implementation of CCS. However, the first two CCS projects were not successful. When making investment decisions on innovative technological projects the TRL scale invented by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) can be useful to compare the maturity of technologies. However, for technologies in sociotechnical systems, such as the implementation of CCS, it might be useful to also consider the maturity of the institutional network. Hence, a NRL scale was proposed by Krijger (2016) and Groenendaal (2018). However, before the NRL scale can be widely used it needs first more validation. Furthermore, it is not known how the information obtained from the NRL/TRL matrix can be used to formulated strategy to stimulate the successful implementation of an infrastructural innovation. To research these two aspects a historical case study on the implementation of CCS in the port of Rotterdam was combined with extensive literature research and expert interviews. Three factors that prevented the increase of the NRL of CCS in the port of Rotterdam were identified: public debate, economic aspects and regulatory processes. In order for the actors of the institutional network to manage these exogenous factors effectively it was suggested to formulate and align nonmarket strategies regarding CCS. Furthermore, the research showed that the NRL/TRL matrix could be improved on completeness and unambiguousness.","CCS; TRL; Institutional Networks; Infrastructural innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:40357cec-6cff-47d5-b048-57095b749b05","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:40357cec-6cff-47d5-b048-57095b749b05","Developing Responsible Commercial Drone Technology: Balancing the Regulation and Innovation: A case study of commercial drone manufacturers in the Netherlands","Renita Danarianti, Renita (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The rapid growth of commercial drone raises concern regarding its close operation to the public. This research aims to support the development of commercial drone that also align with the concept of responsible research and innovation. To achieve this aim, first, the development of drone technology will be analyzed by identifying the influence of commercial drone regulation for the drone manufacturer. Second, the initiative to balance the needs of the drone manufacturer to develop commercial drone and the regulation as a means of governance for the commercial drone will be evaluated by identifying the current stakeholders’ engagement process in the commercial drone industry.","Commercial drone; Regulation; Stakeholders' engagement process; Responsible innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b68aa6ec-9602-4969-85fd-12a0b01f40e7","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b68aa6ec-9602-4969-85fd-12a0b01f40e7","Adoption of Hyperloop: Exploring Public Perspectives on the Development of Hyperloop using Q-methodology","Shetty, Kunal (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, Bert (mentor); Annema, Jan Anne (mentor); Rook, Laurens (graduation committee); Marges, S.J. (Stefan) (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","This study was initiated with a view to understand factors that either aids or presents a barrier towards the adoption of a radically new public transport mode, Hyperloop. The initial promises of Hyperloop include a faster, cheaper, sustainable and efficient mode of transport compared to the existing public transport mode alternatives. However, the technology is largely conceptual and hasn’t been realized yet for commercial operations. Thus, it was found through literature review, that it was important to first study the perceptions on the development of Hyperloop. Also, since Hyperloop development would be of a multi-stakeholder nature, due to the extensive urban landscape and infrastructure changes, it is important to incorporate and/or address the concerns and incentives of every stakeholder involved. Furthermore, large scale infrastructural projects similar to Hyperloop, such as high Speed Rail have faced opposition from the public due to lack of general awareness. This research thus aimed to explore the existing perceptions on the development of Hyperloop, with a view to recommend an inclusive nature of development as well as policy design.
To identify these perspectives the ‘Political Economy Model for Transport Innovations’ was used as a framework. Since existing literature of Product Development relevance of Hyperloop was limited at the time of the initiation of this study, the model was used to interview experts and stakeholders involved in the industrial development of Hyperloop to generate additional content and statements on Hyperloop. A limited set of 25 statements were then presented to a limited set of respondents to identify the patterns of perspectives on Hyperloop.
The study was conducted in the Netherlands with a sample respondent size of 32 participants. To identify perceptions among these respondents, Q-methodology was used. Q-methodology helps in statistical derivation of subjectivity. It also helps the research identify broad patterns of subjective biases compared to the traditional qualitative analysis or R-factor analysis. Through this study 4 distinct perceptions were interpreted. The first perspective is that the public would support research and development on Hyperloop, with a view to either fully realise or help in positive knowledge spill over for adjacent technologies. The second perception interpreted was that the public would rather spend the resources on the development of current existing transport modes to achieve the objectives of Hyperloop. The third perception interpreted was that the public would fully support the implementation of Hyperloop. The fourth perception identifies the skepticism in the full commercial realization of Hyperloop.
Through this study it was found that there is a healthy balance between positive and negative perceptions on the development of Hyperloop. Thus it is required to include the public as a primary stakeholder in its development. This could be enabled by a transparent flow of communication between all the stakeholders via a platform. The study also advocates the use of marketing the technology via subtle measures such as ‘nudging’.
Guided by Design Science Research (DSR), the development of the model entailed three cycles of research, i.e., relevance cycle (which focused on design environment), rigor cycle (which focused on the existing knowledge base), and design cycle (which focused on development and evaluation). The design environment was explored by reviewing the literature on fairness in recruitment and algorithmic biases. Understanding both the recruitment fairness and potential causes of unfairness in AI helped to define the goal of the conceptual model.
The design cycle was informed by the design principles for responsible AI, namely Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency (ART), and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The model presents seven dimensions which translate the principles to design requirements to assess the fairness of AI recruitment system. They are: (1)Justification; (2)Explanation; (3)Anticipation; (4)Reflexiveness; (5)Inclusion; (6)Responsiveness; and (7)Auditablity. The model also ties these concepts with specific criteria of conventional recruitment fairness such as consistency, interpersonal fairness, job-relatedness, and statistical parity. Finally, the completeness of the model was evaluated by discussing its alignment with other frameworks that had similar objective and utility of the model was validated by collecting feedback from the intended users.
This thesis project makes several scientific and practical contributions. The research discusses the potential risks of using AI in the context of HR recruitment systems thereby contributes to the limited literature available in this respect. By using the DSR methodology for building the assessment model, this research serves as a case for DSR methodology in designing a non-IS artifact. Furthermore, the thesis has unified scattered studies in recruitment justice to provide a comprehensive overview of the characteristics of a fair recruitment system.
Building on the theoretical contributions, the study has developed an assessment model to assist top-level HR managers in assessing the fairness of an AI recruitment tool. Employing this assessment tool can have positive effects on a business organization and society by eradicating the unfairness or bias that AI recruitment tools can bring into the organization. It would also raise awareness regarding the risks of AI. Given that the GDPR (article 35) mandate organizations to take responsibility in assessing the impact while introducing automated processing in new contexts or purposes, the assessment model designed in this study supports these regulations.","Artificial Intelligence; Recruitment; responsibility; accountability; transparency","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:dd449566-a3ba-4695-95ae-037914e366d4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dd449566-a3ba-4695-95ae-037914e366d4","An empirical study into how cyber security professionals deal with uncertainty in information security risk assessments: Understanding perceptual aspects and judgment operations","Hagenaars, Kay (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Pieters, W. (mentor); Franssen, M.P.M. (graduation committee); van Eeten, M.J.G. (mentor); Meeuwisse, Kirsten (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2019","The information security (IS) risk assessment process is an essential part to organisation's their protection of digital assets. However, the fast changing IS environment causes for limited knowledge of eventualities, dependencies and values of systems and phenomena. Consequently, the IS risk assessment process is depending on the judgment of cybersecurity professionals to complement the incomplete knowledge. The outset of this research is to understand how cybersecurity professionals provide judgment when they experience uncertainty about the IS environment. First, the perception of uncertainty with cybersecurity professionals is analysed, guided by the theory on perceived environmental uncertainty. Second, the judgment operations of the cybersecurity professionals are analysed, guided by the theory on judgment heuristics. These two concepts are synthesised against the backdrop of the ISO27005 information security risk asessment methodology, that serves as different components of the information security environment. The results show that cybersecurity professionals perceive uncertainty about the IS environment in which it is difficult to: grasp the different interrelations in the organisation’s landscape of information and information systems, assign accurate values to the occurrence of changes/events in the IS environment and to determine the impact from changes/events to the organisation. This uncertainty is caused by the complexity and dynamism dimensions within the organisation’s IS environment. Indicated factors attributed to these dimensions are shadow IT, the innovation processes within an organisation and the organisational structuring. The judgment operations of the cybersecurity professionals are partly explained with the help from judgment heuristics. The data shows that the selective accessibility model is predominantly used to provide judgment about the IS environment during risk assessments. Thereby heavily relying on the information provided to them from different sources, consequently staying close to the initial values. The availability and representative heuristic are also identified but are referenced in fewer instances. This would suggest that the cybersecurity professional assess the information more on a case–by–case basis, rather than providing judgment based on similarity or the ease with which a scenario is retrieved from memory. Aside from the identified heuristics, the cybersecurity professional is observed not to be included in the final judgment. In such cases the uncertainty is then accepted because it is not part of their responsibility. Additionally, the security policy and philosophy paradigm shift from prevention to detection and response allow the cybersecurity professional to accept that not all IS incidents can be prevented. But that detection and response of IS incidents allow the impact to the organisation to be minimised. Finally the cybersecurity professional also judges the security awareness of the people involved when providing judgment operations during an IS risk assessment.","information security risk assessment; uncertainty; information security environment; perceived environmental uncertainty; judgment heuristics; ISO 27005","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:975b02d8-d9a6-4e63-9eca-a754b21e5370","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:975b02d8-d9a6-4e63-9eca-a754b21e5370","Overcoming the financial chasm of new business ventures - a conceptual model of venture capital ecosystems: Comparative case study between Silicon Valley and the Netherlands","Dwek, David (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Cunningham, S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","style=""margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"">Venture capital (VC) and startups are a natural duo. While startups create disruptive and incremental innovations with their technical and creative expertise, many lack the financial resources to grow their company. VC funds provide this needed finance – in addition to business acumen – in exchange for an equity share of their company, with the hope that this risky investment will produce a significant return. Though the importance of adequate VC stimulation in the startup community is well discussed and agreed upon by many studies, as a theoretical concept, ecosystems of VC remain underdeveloped, making it difficult to comprehend how a VC ecosystem works, and more importantly, how to improve one. Nations hope to improve their VC activity and therefore their global competitiveness, by consulting the current VC literature and other comparative VC publications (scoreboards, case studies and regional benchmarks), but these do not approach VC from an ecosystem perspective, which might explain the discrepancy in their results and conclusions. The absence of an ecosystem perspective in VC literature, results in a lack of a holistic understanding of the mechanisms of a venture capital ecosystem (VCE). Consequently, this shortage of comprehension might explain why current studies do not provide the reasons for the shortcoming of the Dutch VCE. This is the first study to take the ecosystem perspective of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) theory in the field of VC and seeks to answer the following main research question: How can the Dutch venture capital be improved through a conceptual model, which explains the determinants influencing the development of a venture capital ecosystem?","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2019-12-21","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:71c92f4a-8fc6-430e-96b1-cee14049e4fa","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:71c92f4a-8fc6-430e-96b1-cee14049e4fa","Contextual factors influencing the implementation of sustainable supply chain practices: An empirical study on product manufacturing companies in the BENELUX region","BHAT, MADHUKESHWAR (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rezaei, J. (mentor); van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","With the rising global pollution and rising concern over sustainable operations, manufacturing companies are under tremendous pressure from its stakeholders to adopt Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). However, companies in addressing SSCM, largely focus on the economic aspects neglecting the other two crucial pillars of sustainability. To tackle this issue and further promote the TBL approach in SCM, this study empirically analyzes the factors influencing the successful implementation of environmental and social sustainability practices in manufacturing SCM. This study takes into account 8 different sustainability practices corresponding to environmental and social pillars and set of 10 contextual factors that are suggested to influence the successful implementation of sustainability practices in the existing literature.
The data collected from 112 product manufacturing companies and logistic regression analysis reveal that 9 out of 10 factors significantly influence the implementation of at least one of the sustainability practices. Sustainability Policies and Objectives (SPO) being the major contributor shows significant influence towards 4 of the practices and relatively low significant influence on 3 other practices. However, Downstream Supply Chain Factor (DSCF) do not significantly influence the implementation of any of the practices.
Based on data analysis results, a detailed discussion is conducted and answer to the main research question is provided. Next, the limitations of the research study, recommendations for future studies are provided. Finally, a personal reflection and managerial implications are provided.","SSCM; TBL; Contextual factors; Environmental sustainability; Social sustainability; Binary logistic regression","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:86eb0c05-7c23-44a1-929f-d6d82558e044","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:86eb0c05-7c23-44a1-929f-d6d82558e044","BM roadmapping approach: overcoming the barriers for the implementation of Lead Time Based Pricing","Juan García, David (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, Mark (mentor); Warnier, Martijn (mentor); Ehm, Hans (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","This research explores the factors that challenge the implementation of Revenue Management (RM) in manufacturing industries. Previous research focused mainly on Order Management to explain how RM could be applied with studies that are mathematical by nature. However, there is no empirical study explaining the implementation process of RM in manufacturing industries.
This research adopts a differential approach and methodology which aims at filling the existing implementation gap. First, to avoid vagueness, the research proposes Lead Time based Pricing as the specific RM strategy to pursue. Then, the research focuses on creating a roadmap for the RM implementation. In order to create such roadmap, the research focuses on the field of Business Model Innovation (BMI). In this field, the research describes the BM ontology and BM roadmapping, tools which will be used for constructing the roadmap. It proposes to combines BM roadmapping with the BMI process to help facilitating the task of roadmapping and finally, upon the discovery issues hindering the real implementation of RM, the research identifies BMI barriers which are, afterwards, compared with the data collected to confirm its significance on the RM (specifically LTBP) case.
With the assistance of Infineon Technologies, a semiconductor manufacturer, the research approach chosen is an instrumental case study with semi-structured interviews as a data collection methodology. The data is quoted, codified and analyzed with Atlas.ti 8.0 and the information is useful to pursue the realization of the BM roadmapping, giving answer to the main research question of this research.
In this research, we aim to identify the barriers that can occur and inhibit the innovation phase and analyse the strategies that can be implemented in order to remove or circumvent these barriers, which will lead to an initial framework of barriers and strategies for the innovation phase. In order to reach this objective, a three-stage methodological approach has been followed, consisting of literature review, conceptual framework development, and case studies. From this research, we have developed an adapted framework of barriers and strategies for the development of a new, high-tech product in the innovation phase. It was found that there are barriers that can persist in the innovation phase from the product perspective as well as infrastructure perspective and there are strategies that are found to be implemented in the innovation phase to remove or circumvent these barriers. This research has contributed to more knowledge and insights in terms of the nature of the innovation phase, the complex dynamic between the barriers and strategies, and the influence of these barriers on the time frame and processes of said phase.","Innovation; Barriers; Strategies; Renewable energy technologies; Product Development","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","Master Project Report",""
"uuid:ac788479-87af-4ed5-acbc-498f27ade980","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ac788479-87af-4ed5-acbc-498f27ade980","Identifying dynamics of growth in a competitive and transitioning lighting industry using PESTLE and SWOT analysis","Venkatachalam, Arun Meyappan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, Laurens (mentor); Roeser, Sabine (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:2cec53a5-9fd8-48f8-b4af-7229cc2ad7cb","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2cec53a5-9fd8-48f8-b4af-7229cc2ad7cb","The contribution of Enterprise resource system (ERP) on Green supply chain performance: Case study Approach","Pandarahally Venugopal, Jayanth (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rezaei, Jafar (mentor); van de Kaa, Geerten (mentor); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","The increasing awareness towards environmental protection demands industries to enact viable solutions in their operations, one such example is the introduction of the concept of “Green Supply chain management” in supply chain operations. The supply chain process operates as a link connecting firms and industries to deliver a product or service to the end customer. The procurement activity in the supply chain process plays a vital role in providing the materials for production and consequently to business sales of the firm. Over the years, the technological development and integration of information technology in procurement process have transformed manual information sharing to a more automatized system of Enterprise Resource Systems (ERP) in the business to the business operational platform. The growing importance of green practices in manufacturing firms and the research gap reviewed in the literature addressing the relation between ERP systems on green supply chain motivates to carry out this research. In this report, I attempt to answer the research question formulated addressing the relation between ERP and Green supply chain operational performance through a Case study. The research is carried out structurally adhering to the research framework developed in the initial stages of background study. I follow the case study methodology to collect the relevant data to reflect on the conceptual model developed through literature review and to answer the research question. Finally, I conclude the research by providing recommendations based on the analysis and reflect on the limitations and future research prospects.","ERP; Green supply chain; Enterprise system; Information technology; supply chain","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2018-12-31","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:577f5c61-4a72-43b4-be28-39db04de889e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:577f5c61-4a72-43b4-be28-39db04de889e","The impact of a context-aware architecture for B2G information sharing on data quality in the container-shipping domain","Tapaneya-Olarn, Tanya (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Klievink, A.J. (graduation committee); van Engelenburg, S.H. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","Data Quality; International Trade; Supply Chain; Data exchange; B2G information sharing system; Customs","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3bb77179-d9ad-4b78-ad31-5daa53f3c641","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3bb77179-d9ad-4b78-ad31-5daa53f3c641","A blockchain-based business process to securitise mortgages","van Rossum, Ben (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Hartholt, Bert (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Today, mortgage originators are under a significant amount of pressure. Following the Basel IV accord, mortgage originators (Dutch banks: ING, ABN, AMRO, and Rabobank) must hold more capital reserves to create a buffer for difficult financial times. Possessing these extra capital reserves comes with the expense of sustaining current economic performance. Off-balance securitisation in combination with blockchain technology can be used to decrease capital on the balance from the originators and thereby cut costs. Furthermore, blockchain and smart contract technology may make it possible to bundle forces in a distributed network and automate the transaction and controlling steps and thus reduce the transaction costs, time, and risks in the securitisation business process. The objective of the study is to help these financial institutions identify and analyse the opportunities of blockchain technologies in the business process of securitising mortgages. This research uses an explorative design approach which employs the information system framework of Hevner et al. to create the first business process model notation (BPMN) model of this business process. This research aims to build a bridge between non-technical and technical decision makers to accelerate blockchain innovation in the mortgage securitisation process. The study is supported by six interviews and four discussions with experts in the field of securitisation and blockchain technology. The viable BPMN model determined that blockchain is able to transform the securitisation industry, but not with a public and permissionless network.
One of the applications of AI is combining it with Robotic Automation Solutions. RAS is a form of business process automation that combines both AI and software robots. The simplest application of RAS is known as Robotic Process Automation.
More complex RAS solutions are not yet mature enough to be implemented widely. However, research shows that they may be mainstream in less than five years. This research will focus on RPA to be prepared for the more advanced solutions in the future.
Because of the newness of RPA and the multiple challenges currently not solved, it has been neglected the need to have a proper scientific methodology to model an RPA implementation. The objective of this thesis is to develop a model that allows to analyse the roles involved in an implementation of an RPA project and to assess the accountability of the roles involved.
The model is formed of four main phases. (1) requirements and analysis, (2) development, (3) testing and (4) deployment and governance. Each of these phases comprises different activities. The activities always have two roles assigned; a requestor and an executor. These roles have also been identified, and their responsibilities explained. Special attention has been paid to the accountability relationship between both roles in each activity. The research also covers a discussion of the types of accountability seen in the case studies.
Finally, the research also contributes to the views on how RPA would change with the increase and improvement of AI technologies. An analysis on how the model would change if AI becomes very advanced is introduced.
The practical contribution of the research has been (i) the creation of an IT artefact to assist and facilitate the implementation of RPA projects by detecting the activities and roles required, (ii) a methodology to identify and assess accountability relationships depending on the characteristics of the roles and activities involved and (iii) a discussion on how AI may evolve in the future and, more specifically, how the IT artefact will have to be modified to cope with it. The theoretical contributions have been (i) the implementation of the Action-Based Design methodology to create a model, (ii) an increase of the existing literature and knowledge about RPA and (iii) the use of the Action Design Research methodology instead of a more conventional Design Science Research approach.
(botsanality) has escaped the attention of researchers. This research investigated the impacts of personality match between human and computer in e-commerce by measuring level of trust, perceived risk and purchase intention. The experiment did not present statistically significant results and therefore rejecting the hypotheses.","Chatbot; Virtual agent; Artificial Intelligence; Personality; Big five; E-commerce; Personalization","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:00909154-c776-4aea-ab7f-8a8c89b4aa56","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:00909154-c776-4aea-ab7f-8a8c89b4aa56","Blockchain for aircraft spare part management: Evaluating the robustness of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul business model","Rajkov, Dusan (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Maknoon, M.Y. (mentor); Ubacht, J. (graduation committee); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Due to the complexity of aircraft spare part management, the aviation supply chain and ecosystem are not deemed as transparent as desired. As a result, participants face additional cost of communication and compliancy as proprietary component data is not made immediately accessible. To solve these problems, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) providers currently consider to use Blockchain to track and trace aircraft spare parts. Guided by Business Model Stress Test, this thesis evaluates the robustness of MRO business models when they use Blockchain as an aircraft spare part track and trace capability. Blockchain as an aircraft spare part track and capability is not only strategically relevant for cost-conscious innovating MROs, it also does not impose a risk to the robustness of their business model in most scenarios. MROs should engage in a regulatory-backed Blockchain consortium through which they share limited component data throughout the entire industry. If this is not possible, they can retreat from the consortium under the notion that their business model is threatened. Even though Blockchain could improve aviation supply chain and ecosystem transparency, the feasibility of the consortium is questionable. To remedy this concern, future research should focus on identifying strategic incentives for Original Equipment Manufacturers and aircraft operators to participate in the Blockchain consortium.","Aircraft Spare Part Management; Inter-Organisational Information Sharing; Blockchain Technology; Track and Trace; Business Model; Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul; Distributed Ledger","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a890d6c2-8f12-400d-b1e5-68ae20e6c220","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a890d6c2-8f12-400d-b1e5-68ae20e6c220","Smart Mobility in the Netherlands: Road authorities' perspectives on obstacles and opportunities in the 2018-2023 time frame","Spaans, Marlon (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, G.P. (mentor); Annema, J.A. (mentor); Rook, L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","There is a need for a more efficient use of existing infrastructure to improve the accessibility, liveability and safety of Dutch cities, metropolitan areas and provinces. A projected solution to growing mobility issues is Smart Mobility.
From a scientific perspective, research has only been performed on the possible effects of Smart Mobility technologies. Yet, not much literature exists on the success and failure criteria for the implementation of Smart Mobility.The main objective of this research is to gain knowledge on obstacles and opportunities for implementing Smart Mobility in the Netherlands in order to fill the knowledge gap for road authorities and science.
Six themes were observed in total during the analysis of the coded interview transcripts. After that, eighteen obstacle and nine opportunity categories were constructed. Three obstacle categories, one obstacle theme, one opportunity category and one opportunity theme for implementing Smart Mobility in the Netherlands were found to be crucial factors for implementing Smart Mobility in the Netherlands. The obstacle categories are (1) organisational inertia, (2) the changing role of governments, (3) cooperation with other governmental institutions and market parties and (4) the theme obstacles related to execution. The opportunity category is (1) (social) benefits and the theme is (2) cooperation and knowledge sharing.
The most frequently addressed opportunity category was social benefits. Interviewees stressed that Smart Mobility is a mean, not a goal. Social benefits were named in all sorts and shapes: social benefits for the liveability of cities, quality of life, sustainability, sense of safety, and social prosperity.
The most frequently addressed obstacle category was organisational inertia. On top of that, many interviewees had doubts whether people will accept Smart Mobility innovations and technologies in their daily lives.
The scientific literature on Smart Mobility is far from conclusive. This thesis research is a thin cross-section of Smart Mobility efforts of road authorities in the Netherlands. However, it does give a rich image of the efforts and heuristics on Smart Mobility in the Netherlands.","Smart mobility; content analysis; semi-structured interviews; barriers; opportunities; implementation of transportation infrastructure; Implementation; Governance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:958e592d-0316-4ca8-9029-3c0961f63843","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:958e592d-0316-4ca8-9029-3c0961f63843","Identifying Challenges and success factors towards Implementing Industry 4.0 technologies in the Shipbuilding Industry","Torres Saenz, Andres (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, Jan Anne (mentor); Verburg, Robert (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Industry 4.0 refers to the allocation of several new technologies which are currently reshaping the manufacturing and process industry. These developments are expected to have a positive impact for many industries, driving processes towards leaner and more efficient standards. By considering the possible effect of Industry 4.0 technologies in the shipbuilding industry, the aim of this thesis was to discover the main challenges to the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies in the shipbuilding Industry, and to examine the main success factors towards the implementation and final adoption of these technologies in the shipbuilding industry. In this thesis a theoretical model TOE Frameworks developed by (Tornatzky, 1990) was used to assess the factors influencing the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in a shipbuilding setting. . A rich view on issues and insights were obtained from a total of 22 interviews with experts, the interviews were done from the period of April/18 to May/18. The interviewees were selected from amongst a group of experts from three main fields: technology developers, Industry 4.0 experts and shipbuilding experts.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1c6c1396-db87-48fc-8545-e8097d1f5cf3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1c6c1396-db87-48fc-8545-e8097d1f5cf3","A sustainability-oriented innovation selection method for service firms: A design process and a practice-validated prototype","Schwarze, Ruben (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ortt, Roland (mentor); de Bruijne, Mark (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","SOI; Sustainability-oriented innovation; Innovation; Service organisation; Airport; Network setting; Innovation selection; Design-Oriented Research; Design process","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","52.3105386, 4.7682744"
"uuid:c589a9ea-0366-40e3-a6d7-2feec1e5d958","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c589a9ea-0366-40e3-a6d7-2feec1e5d958","Designing a Context-aware Decentralized Marketplace for Sensor Data","Hannaert, Raphaël (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Janssen, Marijn (mentor); Klievink, Bram (mentor); Hansen, Helle (mentor); van Engelenburg, Sélinde (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","In the past years there has been increasing awareness about the benefits of collecting and using more sensor data for businesses. This has led firms to look for data outside of their boundaries and use some data commercialization mechanisms such as data brokers, and open or privately-owned data marketplace. However, these exchanges solutions are controlled by companies which have a commercial interest that differs from users, leading to lack of transparency and lack of protection of data, loss of data ownership by the provider and no guarantee of fair pricing. These centralized data exchanges call into question the willingness of both data providers and data users to share data. As an alternative, blockchain technology can be used to reduce the control and interference of any firm, leading to a more peer-to-peer and transparent data marketplace. To improve coordination between stakeholders and to enhance a more automated marketplace, the system should be context-aware. The main contribution of this thesis is a proposition of blockchain-based components integrated within a context-aware decentralized data marketplace. Other parts of the system are highlighted, as they need to be subject to more research in order to achieve a fully functional and complete system. Finally, guidelines are suggested for generalization to other types of data and ecosystems.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:43c9c9c5-0b26-414b-9604-e06516c74e17","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:43c9c9c5-0b26-414b-9604-e06516c74e17","Maximisation of Shareholder’s Value and The Theory of Innovative Enterprise: A Case Study Comparison of Two Automotive Enterprises","Prasad, Rahul (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, Servaas (mentor); Pesch, Udo (mentor); van Beers, Cees (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Twenty years ago, American-style shareholder capitalism, with its focus on maximising shareholders’ value (MSV), was widening its lead (in terms of economic growth) over European-style stakeholder capitalism. Nevertheless, the U.S. economy runs large trade deficits, inequality in income and wealth has risen, and there is a growing disappointment in the ability of American capitalism to deliver on its economic promise of prosperity. Evidence of superior long-run performance of enterprises operating in economies (such as Germany) where the MSV hypothesis is not the norm guiding corporate governance (but co-determination), suggests (at the minimum) that there are approaches to corporate governance which may be superior to MSV. In this thesis, the longer-run impacts of two alternative systems of corporate governance are explored with the aid of two business case studies—performed on General Motors (GM), from the U.S., and Volkswagen (VW), from Germany—with an aim to find the extent to which their diverse systems of corporate governance have contributed to (dis)investments in innovation. It has been found that, unlike the conditions at VW, the lack of a stable decision-making structure; inability to identify and confront competition; high profit-orientation, short-termism, yearly stock buybacks and regulations which permits it, and stock-based remuneration rationalised by the MSV hypothesis; flexible labour markets and downsizing; focus on the development of “general” skills; and aggressive debt financing, have shaped the corporate governance of GM and have affected its innovative capabilities. Moreover, VW—with its strong long-term competence development motive, technocratic managers, and better debt ratios—can be expected to identify and sustain its new (radical) innovation projects and if successful, can aid VW to emerge from any cost-disadvantage. GM can be expected to possess superior proprietary technologies and radical innovations or could be in a path of acquiring them. But, it is likely that with its current low cash margins and riskier credit-risk exposure—as a result of MSV perspective in corporate governance—GM may be placed at a cost disadvantage if the innovations fail or fail to appropriate gains.","Maximisation of shareholder value; Financialisation; Stock Buybacks; Corporate Governance; Innovation; Innovative Enterprises; Co-determination; Efficient Markets Hypothesis; Principal-agent theory","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:580e85e2-ec77-47d3-8377-058769de98cb","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:580e85e2-ec77-47d3-8377-058769de98cb","The Influence of Secondment on Labour Productivity in Germany","Sobota, Vladimir (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, Servaas (mentor); van Beers, Cees (mentor); Asghari, Hadi (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c221bbd7-79ae-4e8a-831d-5da42b639ea6","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c221bbd7-79ae-4e8a-831d-5da42b639ea6","Windfalls from Extractive Activities in Colombia: A Support for Regional Growth and Development?","Posada Henao, Manuela (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Storm, Servaas (mentor); Pesch, Udo (mentor); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Authors such as Clough (1955) and Rostow (1960) believed that countries endowed with natural resources could achieve sustainable economic growth. This belief was based on the role coal and oil had during the 19th and 20th century in the industrial development of countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States of America. However, this perspective started to change in the early 1980´s and has prevailed throughout the years, economists have observed that developing countries rich in non-renewable natural resources such as minerals and fossil fuels, have had a slower economic growth compared to developing resource-poor countries. The economist Auty (1993) denominated this phenomenon as a Natural Resource Curse, in which there is a negative correlation between natural resource dependence and economic growth.
The South American country, Colombia, is the case study of the thesis in which an analysis is provided on how the growth and development of the extractive sector during the commodity price boom of the period 2004-2013 has affected the overall economy of the country. Additionally, the Colombian constitution states, the exploitation of a non-renewable natural resource will cause, in favour of the National Government, an economic consideration as a royalty (Const., 1991 Art. 360). Thus, for the present thesis, an emphasis is placed on the royalties the government received during the years 2012-2016 through the General Royalty System, (i) how these were used in the aspects of Science, Technology and Innovation, and Regional Development, (ii) to provide an understanding of to what extent these investments have contributed to regional growth, (iii) the correlation these investments have in a strategic economic sector such as the agroindustry.","Colombia; Natural Resource Curse; Extractive Activities; Economic Growth; Regional Development; Principal Component Analysis; Hierarchical Cluster Analysis; Discriminant Analysis; ST&I; Royalties","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:50d04f83-222d-479e-8ddd-661d2243857a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:50d04f83-222d-479e-8ddd-661d2243857a","Tracking Cookies in the European Union, an Empirical Analysis of the Current Situation","Turcios Rodriguez, Elsa (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Eeten, M.J.G. (mentor); Asghari, H. (mentor); Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); van Eijk, Rob (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Tracking is a pervasive mechanism across the web which is capable to trace and collect users’ online data. One of the most widely used mechanisms for tracking are cookies, and they are used to deliver online behavioral advertisement. Since these mechanisms pose a threat to privacy, the E-Privacy Directive was created as the regional legal instrument to pay special attention to this issue in the European Union. Now, we are at a crucial moment, there is a discussion to replace the E-Privacy Directive for the called E-Privacy Regulation. However, the nature of privacy policies is complex, and there is an ongoing debate about how the E-Privacy Regulation needs to be implemented or what elements should entail. This master thesis project sought to provide empirical evidence for this debate. Our findings emphasize the need to promote harmonization of the provisions of the E-Privacy Directive in member states, especially on consent and guidance. Also, our work revealed that businesses’ incentives play an important role in explaining the variability of tracking presence. Hence, this suggests that understanding the “parsimonious” factor of businesses’ incentives can be considered by policy-makers to commence an important debate and re-solve the privacy problem.","Privacy; Cookies; E-Privacy Directive; E-Privacy Regulation; Governance; Economics of Privacy; Tracking; Incentives; Transparency and Accountability; Online Behavioral Advertisement","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d47e4d39-e469-49bc-a904-9d3ceb9c12e6","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d47e4d39-e469-49bc-a904-9d3ceb9c12e6","Assessing The Impact of Business Incubation To Startup Performances In Indonesia","Lina Afriana, Lina (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Startup arguably becomes one of the key drivers in the country economy. The growth of startup depends on how well the ecosystem provides the support needed by the startup. Like other young companies, startups have higher failure rates due to lack of resources, networks, reputations, credibility, innovation, or marketing knowledge for developing and selling the products. To survive, most startups collaborate and join business incubation to sustain and improve their performance. Several factors have been identified on influencing startup performance growth in business incubation. However, the impact of business incubation to startup performance has yet to be validated quantitatively by including all possible factors known from previous research. Thus, the research focuses on measuring the impact of business incubation to startup performance and whether business incubation is beneficial to startup performance based on quantitative approach. The performance measurement criteria was selected based on previous business incubation research and adjusted based on Indonesia startup ecosystem. The academic and practical gap on business incubation and its implications for startup performance are also addressed by doing survey research to startups community in Indonesia. The expected result will give an insight of business incubation impact to startup performance, and which factor most influenced startup performance in business incubation. Moreover, advice to help incubators improve and increase their impact on startup performance will also be presented in this research.","Business incubation; Startup; Indonesia; Entrepeneurship","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3a9083db-3c8c-4530-9b0a-0a4c9163775a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3a9083db-3c8c-4530-9b0a-0a4c9163775a","Adoption of frugal innovation in Water sector: A quantitative study for Kenya, Rwanda & Uganda","Mishra, Pratik (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Beers, Cees (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Resource and cost-efficient innovations that are designed to address the needs of the low-income markets focused on “value for money’ are termed as frugal innovations. Frugal innovation aims to provide financially poor consumers with economically effective solutions in order to deal with their problems. The idea of bringing business to the low-income groups with the intention of providing social benefits and at the same time, making profits was proposed by Prahalad. Identifying the factors responsible for the adoption of frugal innovation and understanding a consumer’s behavior is necessary for doing business in the Bottom of Pyramid (BoP) markets. The available literature on frugal innovation is majorly focused on conceptual discussions and case studies. On the other hand, there is limited empirical data and quantitative work conducted in interpreting a consumer’s behavior at BoP. Thus, the research objective is, understanding the consumer behavior for the adoption of frugal innovation and therefore this paper will address the question of “what are the factors responsible for adoption of frugal innovation in water sector at BoP?” Three countries of East Africa were chosen to study and understand the factors that had an impact on the successful adoption of a frugal innovation. In addition to having a scarcity of safe drinking water, a considerable number of the population is at the BoP in Africa. This fact serves as a suitable market for the introduction of a frugal innovation among the masses.
The water sector, is an area often seen by companies as a potential area for entering BoP markets with the aim of selling safe and affordable drinking water. In developed countries, clean drinking water is mostly provided by the public sector. However, this may not always be the case in developing countries where people may lack access to safe drinking water due to infrastructural deficiencies. Looking at two cases of companies providing drinking water in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda), it is one of the areas where they have filled a gap left by infrastructure deficiencies by providing a frugal innovation in the form of low cost reusable bottled drinking water. In the first case, the water is purified at the central facility and the distribution occurs through the local shops in the region and the second case employs a franchise model where water is purified at the franchise location and the distributional costs are reduced by the presence of the large number of franchise and micro-franchise. Most frugal innovation focuses predominantly on the cost cutting aspect of the innovative product but in this case the two water companies fit more with the Bhatti (2012)’s definition of the frugality in all the aspects of the production and the distribution process. To understand the consumer behavior, a theoretical model is developed in this research which consists of Demographics factors (Age, Gender, Household Income, Household size), Organoleptic factors (Color and taste, Psychological factors (Beliefs and perception), Marketing factors (Brand awareness and Convenience), Experience of a free trial and role of household financial decision making, that affects the adoption of bottled drinking water. These factors give an insight about the consumer decision making process which is often considered as a black box and helps to understand the consumer behavior in a better way.
Factors mentioned in the theoretical model are empirically tested for the adoption of bottled drinking water in the three east African countries Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The method used for data analysis is Binary Output Logistic Regression using IBM SPSS Statistics software. Additionally, Spearman correlation is used to understand the correlation in-between various factors. Results from the binary output regression indicates, that the experience of receiving free sample of bottled drinking water had a significant impact on the adoption of bottled drinking water in Kenya and Rwanda. In other words, the experience gained from a free sample of bottled drinking water had a positive impact on the consumer’s bottled water consumption characteristics in Kenya and Rwanda, whereas this was not the same case in Uganda. In Uganda demographic factors like household income, house size and brand awareness had a significant impact on the adoption of bottled drinking water.
As of today, in the oil and gas industry, competing oil-recovery techniques are screened and evaluated with cashflow based methods such as the Net Present Value rule. This method is entirely based on economics and may neglect important aspects related to the techniques. If fossil fuels will still be produced, their contribution to climate change should be mitigated. This can be achieved by considering the efficiency of the techniques employed for extraction. Additionally, the oil and gas industry is subject to uncertainty as the oil price is volatile, as has been observed in the past few years. In order to evaluate competing techniques, it is advisable to also consider the impact of this uncertainty in their evaluation.
In this thesis, the applicability of two concepts for the screening of competing oil-recovery techniques is explored. The thermodynamic efficiency is assessed with the use of Exergy analysis and the uncertainty on the price of oil is considered through the use of Real Option theory.
The constant strive for innovativeness in doing business model innovation seems to be limitless, yet according to various research on institutional theory, there is a limit in how innovative or distinctive a firm can be to not be shunned by its environment (suppliers, competitors, customers, policy-makers).
More specifically, past research have proposed that innovativeness correlates positively with performance. Yet, neo-institutionalism postulates that there is a limit where innovativeness impacts positively to firms and its processes, before being penalized for being too different.
This research empirically observes how the tensions between innovativeness from business model innovation and conformity from institutionalism impacts the business model innovation process in firms. Furthermore, how does insitutionalism ultimately affect firm performance?
The results of this research shows a U-shaped relationship between institutionalism and business model innovation. The observed results also show that institutionalism's effect towards firm performance is mediated partially by business model innovation. The results of this research also support past observation that business model innovation does correlate positively with firm performance.","Business Model Innovation; Institutional Theory; SME's; Business Model; Institutionalism","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:1a63d8b1-c833-4995-9893-e7089af238d1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1a63d8b1-c833-4995-9893-e7089af238d1","Social Media Roles in the Development of Technological Innovation","Fiori, Lorenzo (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, Bert (mentor); Annema, Jan Anne (graduation committee); van de Kaa, Geerten (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Purpose – The purpose of this thesis is to improve understanding of the roles that social media can
have in the process of developing technological innovation, for both successful and unsuccessful
development.
Design/methodology/approach – The theory advanced within the present thesis is the result of a
literature review of innovation system (IS) literature and social media literature. Also, the proposed
theory is illustrated and expanded through a case study which employs social media data and
interviews.
Findings – The effects of social media on the development of technological innovation can be grouped
in three categories: knowledge formation, customer relationship management (CRM), and marketing.
These effects can be positive or negative depending on the strategies and methodologies utilised.
Research limitations/implications – The validity of the advanced theory is limited to the illustrative
case study which has only focused on part of it.
Practical implications – The results of the study indicate that both private and public organisations
involved in the development of technological innovation should adopt different social media
strategies, methods, and tools at different point in time during this maturation process.
Originality/value – This thesis is the first to combine the full spectrum of potentials of social media
communication in the success and failure development of technological innovation.","Innovation Systems; Technological Innovation Systems; Functions; Motors of Innovation; Social Media; Social Networks; Solar Power Window","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7d50bee8-6294-4359-b607-270126fbe01e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7d50bee8-6294-4359-b607-270126fbe01e","Learning factors from experiments in Sustainable Urban Freight Transport: A Strategic Niche Management Analysis of Electric Truck experiments","Koedood, Kevin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, Bert (graduation committee); Pesch, Udo (mentor); van Duin, Ron (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","In the Netherlands the cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam are coping with problems of air quality and congestion caused by inner-city transport. The continued demand for cleaner air, especially in the inner-city, has produced multiple experiments in sustainable transport.Some of these solutions can be seen as radical innovations; however a guideline on implementing radical innovations does not exist. Innovation in the transport sector has predominantly been incremental. Radical steps in the transport regime have also been met with resistance of incumbent stakeholders. As such, the current regime needs a radical change if future goals of improving air quality should be achieved within the desired timeframe. A method to introduce radical innovation in a regime is to set-up a strategic niche, a niche that has the ultimate goal of changing the current regime. This thesis has reviewed experiments done with large electric trucks in the cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. These experiments both originate from the FREVUE project that strives to introduce electric freight transport in urban Europe. The main approach of this thesis has been conducting desk research on grey literature, open data from the FREVUE project, and by conducting interviews among prime stakeholders of the projects. This study finds that stakeholders possess little knowledge on Strategic Niche Management, however the three main elements in setting-up a strategic niche occur in more than one occasion in the experiments that were predominantly of a technical nature. All elements are endorsed by actions, or experiences of the stakeholders in the experiments. In addition several stakeholders stated that the enrolment of OEMs and Banks could have been helpful in building a business case and propose the use of a champion or agent of change to aid the stakeholders in their efforts.Learning can be subdivided in first order and second order learning. First order learning comprised of pure technical learning elements, such as reliability and operating range, was the main goal of the FREVUE project. Second order learning, interaction and policies, also occurred for both experiments.Even though second order learning was not the main purpose of the experiments, stakeholders verified that second order learning occurred. The contributions this study makes are practical, scientific and managerial.The building of social networks and the enrolment of more actors, led to the addition of champion theory as a method to gain access to the necessary network and to convince stakeholders to participate in the project. It also became clear that the stakeholders that were currently participating did not do so out of purely monetary reasons.","strategic niche management; Electrical Vehicles; Transport; Electric Trucks; FREVUE; Electric Urban Freight Transport; adoption of innovation; radical innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:cea8499f-dc50-4fb8-94ee-0bee6098c216","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cea8499f-dc50-4fb8-94ee-0bee6098c216","Effects of cumulative social impacts on emotions regarding ultra-deep geothermal energy projects","van Giezen, Andreas (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Wee, Bert (mentor); Molin, Eric (mentor); Roeser, Sabine (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Royal HaskoningDHV is currently exploring ultra-deep geothermal heating systems in the Netherlands. Within this research it was analyzed whether people show different levels of emotions when being confronted with ultra-deep geothermal energy projects, and whether there are differences in antecedents of emotions between people living in an area with or without cumulative social impacts and between people living closer or further away from a potential project location.
It was found that people do not show different levels of positive and negative emotions when they were asked to imagine an ultra-deep geothermal energy project to be taken place at a distance of 600 meters or 5 kilometers from their living area. However, people living in areas with cumulative social impacts did show significantly higher levels of negative emotions.
This means that when looking at the possibility of starting ultra-deep geothermal energy projects in areas with cumulative social impacts, the project developers have to take into account that people will be more negative towards the technology, in comparison to other regions. As it is argued by some academics that emotions should play a vital role in debates and project developments, this should specifically apply to areas with cumulative social impacts as this will lead to more responsible project outcomes and thus will most likely increase public acceptance.
The practical objective of this thesis is to enable large enterprises to control and steer internal lean ventures (ventures following the lean startup methodology) effectively. The theoretical objective is to bridge the knowledge gap concerning the understanding of internal venturing and the application of the lean startup methodology in large enterprises.
To reach the objective, a case study within a large enterprise was conducted to answer the research question and reach the research objective. 16 in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders were conducted to collect data. Finally, the results were validated through relevant literature and by comparison to the results of six additional interviews, conducted with two other large enterprises.
The study found that two elements influence the success of the venturing process: First, the implementation of the venturing process itself (Section 5.1). Especially the alignment and coordination of different stakeholders as well as the quality of the employed metrics. Secondly, a set of additional factors arising from the context in which the process is embedded (Section 5.2). This context is made up of the mindset and culture of the company, the organizational environment as well as the quality of its adoption of the lean startup methodology. The analysis of resulted in the identification of the five recommendations to improve internal lean venturing within large enterprises. Details can be found in Section 5.4.
In conclusion, implementing the lean startup methodology can help navigate this uncertainty surrounding innovation. This implementation requires reliable metrics, company-wide alignment, and the commitment to the methodology. Additional to the implementation, company and industry specific factors mediate the success of a venturing initiative. Large enterprises are advised to take an honest self-assessment and follow a searching and learning approach to iteratively and successfully optimize their process for maximal venturing success.","Corporate Entrepreneurship; The Lean Startup; Internal Venturing; Innovation; Ambidexterity; Effectuation; Innovation Accounting; Case Study","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6f3fff52-a7de-4b48-8763-a685ae92f065","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6f3fff52-a7de-4b48-8763-a685ae92f065","Innovation governance in the public sector","Brantsma, Lizzy (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, Robert (mentor); Janssen, Marijn (mentor); Hussaarts, T. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","The growth in the use of Information Technologies in the private sector calls for the public sector to anticipate. The public sector digitalisation is expected to improve execution of public tasks and services, and increase confidence of citizens and businesses in new innovative solutions. However, public sector innovation on digitalisation is not seen as a priority, innovation is too risky, and the public sector has no incentive due to absent competitors. Nevertheless, without innovation, public tasks and services become inadequate, resulting in stagnated and eventually decreased effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. The need for innovation approaches; the inconsistency in sustaining innovation by the public sector; and the unprecedented pace of technological, demographic and social changes, require a systematic approach. The research question answered in this thesis is therefore: “How to govern innovation in the public sector to enhance public sector digitalisation?” The thesis starts with a literature review on innovation (on different types, barriers and drivers, management, and governance), then explains the methodology (qualitative research, data collection through judgment sampling) and where the research was carried out: the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. Hereafter the results are presented as: the definition and view on public sector innovation, barriers and drivers of public sector innovation, and the development of a governance framework for promoting innovation in the public sector. In the following chapter an initial evaluation is presented, followed by the discussion and conclusion answering the main research question, recommendations, and suggestions for further research. The concluding remark on the thesis shows that the final framework could be seen as a first step in setting up a governance for public sector innovation.","Public sector innovation; Governance design framework","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:da9b9c93-eb5f-4954-bdbd-16d2bb61feb5","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:da9b9c93-eb5f-4954-bdbd-16d2bb61feb5","Artificial Intelligence in Customs Risk Management for e-Commerce: Design of a Web-crawling Architecture for the Dutch Customs Administration","Giordani, Alessandro (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Cunningham, Scott (mentor); Maknoon, Yousef (mentor); Tan, Yao-hua (graduation committee); Rukanova, Boriana (mentor); Van Rijnsoever, Ben (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","The last decade saw the rise of e-commerce trade and the shift of the manufacturing industry to the emerging economies, China first of all. In this context, the European Customs Authorities experienced an explosion of small parcels coming from e-commerce websites, often from China, and faced difficulties to detect fiscal frauds and security threats using their conventional risk management systems. To address this problem, the European project PROFILE brings together the customs administrations of Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and Estonia, aiming to provide the EU with a shared platform for: (1) accurately assessing customs risks; (2) optimizing operation and logistics by integrating multiple sources of information; (3) developing a shared data platform to share customs risk management (CRM) practices.
As part of this project, the Dutch Customs Administration (DCA) and International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation are collaborating to deploy the cutting-edge technologies of artificial intelligence to automatically cross-check the customs declarations coming from Chinese e- commerce against online information. Through a Design Science approach, I carried out this research for the Delft University of Technology, written in collaboration with IBM Netherlands, aiming to deliver a preparatory study for the developing team before the PROFILE project begins. This includes knowledge brokering between the Dutch Customs Administration and IBM Netherlands so that a more precise problem scope can be defined, and the requirements elicited. In particular, this research focuses on the first part of the project: the development of an adaptive web-crawler for e-commerce, able to compare the declarations documents against online information.
According to the Dutch Customs Administration, the web-crawling system should gather the description of the goods from declarations, search the product on the web, find its price of sale on the e-commerce platforms, compare it with the value declared in the declaration, and return a risk indicator of green/red flag to the targeting officer. The design process of this system follows approaches coming from the systems engineering discipline, starting with the requirement analysis, addressing them with the state-of-the-art big data analytics, and finally deriving the logical components of the system, whose design is presented through a logical architecture.
First, the application domain is investigated. When goods entry the Netherlands need an entry declaration. These goods arrive at the harbor of Rotterdam or airport of Schiphol, where some of these are imported into the country and become import/export, and others stop temporarily as transit waiting to be shipped somewhere else. The Dutch Customs Administration monitors these processes through risk management systems aiming to stop non-compliant goods. This research describes these practices, with a higher focus on the e-commerce risk targeting. About the e- commerce world, a study of the e-commerce processes behind an online purchase is also carried out through a real purchase on Chinese e-commerce. This was used to observe how the Chinese sender described the item, and how the Dutch Customs assessed the risk and decided on the duties to be paid. This led to reflect on the possible frauds scenarios and how to address them. Finally, the Dutch Customs also reported that the products descriptions are often vague and ambiguous, and a more accurate formulation of the problem is described.
Secondly, an in-depth literature on the fields of web-crawling and big data analytics techniques is carried out. The possible technologies that could be useful to address the requirements and the problem formulation are investigated. Starting with an analysis of the existing literature on the field of big data analytics, this research also covers the recent trends of machine learning and artificial intelligence. To avoid reporting a too big literature, the topics reported have been accurately chosen, for instance describing only the techniques for web analytics and text analytics.
This literature on big data analytics is further broken in two sub-topics, one more theoretical, which classifies the types of analytics methods and defines the technology of machine learning and natural language processing, including the last paradigms of deep learning and reinforcement learning, and one more practical, where guidelines for the design, development, and implementation of machine learning techniques are proposed. It is here that a theoretical framework to systematically reflect on the challenges of the field of big data analytics has been identified. This framework is then used to systematically collect the main technological challenges of the use case under analysis and translate them into non-functional requirements.
Finally, the last part of the literature describes what a web-crawler is and what web- crawling/web-craping means. This later extends to the concepts of focused web-crawling and smart, intelligent, adaptive web-crawling, where machine learning techniques are deployed to improve performance. The literature concludes by providing related works of machine learning techniques implemented in smart web-crawling of the e-commerce websites and stating the knowledge gap that needs to be bridged to address the use case under analysis.
After the application domain and the literature review, the knowledge from these previous phases combines in a continuous iterative process according to the design science methodology (Hevner, 2014). Through unstructured interviews with the DCA and IBM experts, the requirements elicitation is carried out. The approach by Armstrong and Sage (2000) deriving from the field of systems engineering is used. The main objective of the system to be developed is broken down into a series of sub-activities that must be carefully structured to formulate the requirements. About the non-functional requirements, instead of reflecting on the different domains – technological, environment, law compliance, etc. – as it is proposed by the same systems engineering approach mentioned earlier, this research uses the framework identified in the literature review about the main challenges of big data project (Sivarajah, 2016).
To derive the components of the architecture from the requirements and customer needs, the methodology proposed by Suh (1998) called Axiomatic Design has been used, mapping the requirements into architectural components in a rigorous manner. In this way, the design domains proposed by this methodology – customer, functional, physical and process domains – are taken as the reference point for the design process: first, the business needs are identified, then these are translated into requirements, which are mapped into design features. The process domain is left out of this research and will be addressed by the IBM development team in Ireland.
The design cycle leads to the design of a web-crawling system represented through a service- oriented architecture (SOA). Its block diagram and black-box description of each application service are provided. Furthermore, the architecture functionality is described with an architecture walk-through and a sequence diagram in the unified modeling language (UML). The result is an innovative real-time web-crawling system to identify the value of a given product on the e-commerce websites. It deploys natural language process models to filter the non-relevant search results, and other machine learning models to best matching the remaining relevant results with a given item description.
The design and architecture description of this innovative web-crawling system is the main artifact of this research, while the mixed methodology of systems engineering methodologies and big data frameworks is another important scientific contribution.","Web-crawling; Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence; Service Oriented Architecture; Systems Engineering; Risk Management; E-commerce; Customs Administration","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","PROFILE",""
"uuid:19147ea2-64d4-44ef-8495-46493228a5ad","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:19147ea2-64d4-44ef-8495-46493228a5ad","Exploring the viability of AGV implementation in warehouses of express delivery companies: A case study at TNT/FedEx","van Walsum, Santino (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Annema, J.A. (mentor); Turta, C. (mentor); Dignum, V (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","The demand for express delivery services is growing rapidly and the express delivery market is getting more competitive. To secure their competitiveness, these enterprises are pressured to invest in technologies that could sustain their future growth and keep their operating costs as low as possible. The Automated guided vehicle (AGV) technology could increase the competitiveness of these enterprises by reducing both operating costs and labour demand. Until now insufficient knowledge is available within express delivery companies regarding the viability of AGVs. The main objective of this research is to determine whether AGVs are viable for use within the warehouses of express delivery companies. The research found that the use of AGVs could be viable within express delivery companies under certain conditions.","AGVs; Automated guided vehicles; Viability; Express delivery companies; Warehouses; Logistic automation; Automation; Feasibility study","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b0a474a5-ef94-49a5-8250-319967c08d5b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b0a474a5-ef94-49a5-8250-319967c08d5b","Decision support framework for the allocation of production processes within multi-facility machinery manufacturing organizations","Ellens, Mark (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, Marcel (mentor); Franssen, Maarten (mentor); Tavasszy, Lóri (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","Decision; support; framework; production; processes; allocation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d294f7ae-245e-4dfc-9157-1352532d7e15","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d294f7ae-245e-4dfc-9157-1352532d7e15","Future Prospects of the Dutch Energy Transition: Analysis of Agents’ Behavior through Energy System Modelling","Baldisseri, Elisa (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","De Vries, Laurens (mentor); Storm, S.T.H. (mentor); Koelemeijer, Robert (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","The present research takes place at the Environmental Assessment Agency, in the Department of Climate, Air and
Energy. The core objective is to improve the investment module of a national energy system simulation model
(Ensysi) that wants to represent actors’ technology-investments in the energy transition context.
An initial literature review has revealed the importance of the agents’ rational and non rational behavior in determining
the future stock evolution, given the high level of uncertainty of some key variables such as future energy
carriers prices and ETS prices. With regard to this, Ensysi presents the shortcoming that investment decisions are
not forward looking but just consider the costs and revenues of the year in which the decision takes place. The
model expansion performed in this research is therefore aimed at re-formulating the investment concept through
a discounting calculation so that some exploratory scenarios in terms of actors’ behavior and expectations can be
designed and analysed.
The literature review has covered firstly an overview of energy modeling techniques and categories in order to
introduce Ensysi and categorize it within the existing energy modelling scenario. Secondly, the core object of
the research was investigated: how investment decisions happen in reality for the actor group of consumers and
companies. Since Ensysi is not yet provided with a solid theoretical formulation, the main theories for technologyinvestment
decisions were reviewed in order to find the one appropriate for the theoretical underpinnings of Ensysi.
Based on that a conceptual model was formulated, clarifying the nature of the relationships among different variables
and providing a first guide for the subsequent research steps. The formulated conceptual model is based on
Diffusion of Innovation theory from Rogers (2003) and some notions from environmental psychology.
After the literature review and theoretical validation, a careful analysis of the current module formulation has been
done to reformulate a part of the investment simulation module. More specifically a new parameter connected to a
net present value calculation was created to introduce in the model the actors’ perceived time dimension of money
flows so as to include expectations about future costs.
The outputs from the new version were then compared to the ones from the original version to observe which
new potentialities arise from the model expansion. Two case analysis for different energy subsystems (transport
passenger cars for consumers and electricity generation for companies) were considered to draw research insights
valuable for energy policy from the new potentiality of the model. The results of these simulations confirm the
added value of defining actor scenarios based on different expectations and long term financial evaluations rather
than highly uncertain behavioral parameters: more modelling transparency and validation possibilities, as well as
richness of decision-making simulation scope.","Energy Transition; Simulation modelling; Agents behavior","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:66aae41f-7b0a-455b-b8ab-bf64fa13beb9","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:66aae41f-7b0a-455b-b8ab-bf64fa13beb9","Business model innovation in European SMEs: thriving configurations and performance implications","Verhagen, Mathijs (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, Mark (mentor); Kroesen, Maarten (mentor); van Geenhuizen, Marina (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","For many years, Business Model Innovation (BMI) has been recognized by academics as key to improve competitiveness and innovativeness. While more than ninety percent of the large corporates conduct some degree of BMI, BMI has barely reached Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs). Increasing the use of BMI in SMEs is believed to boost the economic situation, which has become the objective of multiple innovation support programs. To substantiate the need for these programs and to guide their actions, the link between BMI and business performance requires clarification. Based on a dataset collected in 2016 by project ENVISION, this study investigates this relation by examining over five hundred European SMEs. Following a multi-method approach, this study provides evidence for the claim that BMI can enhance firm performance in different ways. Our results provide directions on how programs can be tailored to parts of the SME population that are expected to show the strongest response to raising BMI adoption.","Business Model Innovation; Business model experimentation; Business model implementation; LCA; fs-QCA; SEM","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d84413cb-03a3-4a89-a284-68af3356837e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d84413cb-03a3-4a89-a284-68af3356837e","Service robotics in hospitality: developing business model guidelines for a service robotics startup by understanding what is driving and influencing adoption of robots in hotels","Croce, Nicola (TU Delft Applied Sciences; TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van de Poel, I.R. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","br/>Many market research agencies and consulting firms claim the robotics service and consumer market is about to boom. Market reports show there’s a massive, untapped market for robots to be used in commercial spaces such as hotels, restaurants, fast-foods and cruise ships. These spaces could serve as a great stepping stone on the path toward general-purpose home robots by driving scale, volume, and capabilities. However, there is a significant research gap in this field: only few studies are available on the introduction, adoption and diffusion of service robotics technologies in the hospitality industry.
Tactile Robots (TR) is a high-tech startup based in Lecce, Italy, whose go to market strategy is to introduce its autonomous robots for indoor delivery in hotels for performing hotel room service. On one hand, nothing or only few is known regarding what is driving adoption of robotics technologies in hospitality and about which are the factors that are influencing adoption. On the other hand, Tactile Robots lacks adequate knowledge about its potential customers and the condition under which they are willing to be delivered value by TR’s innovative robotic solution.
The aim of this research is to give recommendations about the design of a viable business model for Tactile Robots by investigating the drivers of adoption of service robotics technology in hospitality industry, together with factors that are influencing adoption. Traditional Business Model (BM) design practices and BM ontologies fail in taking into account contextual factors and actors outside the firm specific value chain. In this work, we propose a novel approach to business modeling which, through a first step of empirical research involving different external stakeholders, identifies technology adoption drivers and factors under the architecture of the theoretical Technology Organization and Environment(TOE) framework. Findings are then organized to structure four case studies that represent the approach with potential customers. Multiple case study analysis provides in depth insights needed to give informed recommendations for business model design for Tactile Robots. The set of recommendations touches primarily three out of nine building blocks of the chosen business model ontology, Business Model Canvas, namely: Target customers, Value proposition and revenue model.
Research showed how, in order for service robotics solutions to be successfully introduced to the hospitality market, value propositions should address predominantly the customer facing side of hospitality business. Unlike for industrial settings, robots are not likely to be adopted by players in hospitality for the only purpose of cost reduction and enhanced productivity. They, instead, need to bring significant value to the guest by augmenting the service or providing a superior experience. Furthermore, well renowned international innovative hotel chains seem to be the most suitable target segment for service robotics applications. Finally, due to stringent financial factors, it is advisable to sell robots on a leasing model which allow hoteliers to minimize initial investment and future switching costs.
This study is the first that research business model design for service robotics startup entering the hospitality industry. Further research is required to validate the factors that are influencing adoption of robots in hotels and to find the relative contribution of these factors to adoption decisions.","service robots; business model canvas; adoption of innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2020-06-26","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:bbe246b3-8340-4925-9ed6-61249e420cb5","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bbe246b3-8340-4925-9ed6-61249e420cb5","Exploration of ambidexterity among SMEs in the Dutch Maritime sector: How SMEs align exploitation of existing products and pursue exploration of product innovations","Dubbeld, Maarten (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van Duin, Ron (graduation committee); van Beers, Cees (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) tend to focus upon short-term profit in a crisis period, however the EU advised SMEs’ to invest in innovation and quality of products. How SMEs balance between these two contradicting strategies is seldom addressed. Therefore, this study explores how SMEs align their organization upon short term exploitation of current products and explore long term product innovations simultaneously.
The results of this multiple case study research identify Exploitative activities are supported by commonality among organizational goals and Exploration requires investment in knowledge sharing. A moderating effect upon exploitation and exploration, as identified in literature about Organizational Ambidexterity, is also identified among SMEs.","Ambidexterity; SMEs; Exploitation; Exploration; Absorptive Capacity; Top Management Team","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ed91af8e-5520-4be3-9b5f-fead22cedbe3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ed91af8e-5520-4be3-9b5f-fead22cedbe3","Business Modelling for Utilisation of Organic Side-Streams: Developing a tool for food producing firms","Vlug, Niels (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Hartmann, L. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:5b83d210-9460-456e-8421-e6d5626b2204","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5b83d210-9460-456e-8421-e6d5626b2204","Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain: conceptual redesign of Crude Palm Oil's trading Business Process","Tsilimeni-Archangelidi, Anthi (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tavasszy, Lorant (mentor); Lukosch, Heide (graduation committee); Ludema, Marcel (graduation committee); Diemeer, R.W.J. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","Business Process Improvement; Smart Contracts; Business Process Model; Commodity Trading; Blockchain Use Cases","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2019-05-25","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f7f9ecee-37f6-4db0-a288-910b4d318c85","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f7f9ecee-37f6-4db0-a288-910b4d318c85","Designing awareness games for solving complex problems: Towards a more comprehensive design framework","Law, Nicky (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verbraeck, A. (mentor); Kortmann, L.J. (mentor); Rook, L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:863035f9-ed11-4737-aa76-d854641da6e0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:863035f9-ed11-4737-aa76-d854641da6e0","An assessment of the performance and potential of OTEC innovation clusters worldwide","Salz, Kevin (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Quist, J.N. (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (graduation committee); Blok, K. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology development is currently in the gap between academia and commercialization. To bridge this gap, all stakeholders that influence the development must perform optimally. This thesis presents the performance of OTEC developing stakeholder groups (‘clusters’) in Japan, the Netherlands, France, USA and Malaysia and recommendations for improvement. Interviews with the main OTEC developing organizations gave input for a technological innovation system analysis which is used to determine the performance of each cluster. Four structural elements are used to define the current state of OTEC in each innovation system and seven functional elements are used to systematically study activities and events that influence the technology development and commercialization. A cross-case analysis is used to find industry-wide trends.
The cluster around Naval Energies and Akuo Energy in France and the cluster of OTE Corporation and Makai Ocean Engineering both perform well on most of the investigated elements. The performance of the Dutch cluster suffers somewhat from the small scale of its main OTEC developing actor, Bluerise. The Japanese cluster performs very well on research related aspects although limited commercialization efforts can negatively influence further technology diffusion. Malaysia lacks essential actors for technology development and should therefore not be defined as an OTEC cluster.
Two influences external from the industry were found to affect OTEC development negatively. Firstly, current support mechanisms for emerging (renewable energy) technologies are not suitable for technologies that require high upfront investments due to focus on production subsidies instead of upfront grants or guarantees. Secondly, OTEC is not included in renewable energy development plans from governments, which negatively influences the confidence in the technology of industry and investors and creates uncertainty in the market.","OTEC; Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion; technological innovation systems; functions of innovation systems; Innovation; Policy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c5e81d5a-3ebf-4e05-ab62-8db6bdd2e4d3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c5e81d5a-3ebf-4e05-ab62-8db6bdd2e4d3","On the factors affecting frugal innovation diffusion on Sub-Saharan Africa BoP: An evidence-based study using data from Participatory Rural Appraisal","Boldrini, Nicola (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Chappin, E.J.L. (mentor); Brusoni, Stefano (mentor); La Cara, Barbara (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution); ETH Zürich (degree granting institution)","2018","Margot Wallstrom once argued that there can be no sustainable development without sustainable energy development. Despite several organizations already recognized that (rural) electrification leads to socio-economic developments and improvements related to health, productivity and education in 2013, 1.2 billion people – half of which in Africa – still remain un-electrified. To address the problem, this qualitative research analyzes data through the so-called Gioia method previously collected utilizing Participatory Rural Appraisal tools (PRA) in the context of Kenyan BoP community. The final aim of the study than is to answer to the following research question: Which factors positively affect the diffusion of frugal innovation at the BoP? In view of this, the study tries to overcome the traditional lack of information regarding BoP consumers’ preferences through the case of a social enterprise diffusing frugal innovation in the Sub-Saharan Africa BoP energy market.","Frugal innovation; Rural electrification; Participatory rural appraisal (PRA); Social innovation; Absorptive capacity; Emering markets","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a9171959-8a02-4c97-8a56-d5188d223471","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a9171959-8a02-4c97-8a56-d5188d223471","The Global Data Synchronization Network in the Consumer Goods Industry: Adoption Framework & Critical Success Factors","Garcia Millan, Manuel (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tavasszy, Lorant (mentor); Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Lukszo, Z. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","Digitalization is revolutionizing the way organizations manage their internal operations. Many of them are still characterized by waste and inefficiencies, however, innovative digital tools are already changing the way large corporations operate in a variety of sectors. One of the fields that still have room for improvement is product data management (PDM) in the consumer goods industry. Supply chain partners spend huge amount of resources in just fixing manual errors and adapting large data formats. There is not enough standardization in the way product data is exchanged among entities. Inter-organizational information systems (IOS), and more specifically the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), represent the most promising digital tool towards leaner PDM processes. IOSs are computer-based information systems that extend beyond the borders of one organization. They provide automated information exchange to support linked business processes among two or more organizations. The GDSN is a specific IOS for product data management that extends to all the supply chain partners that are exchanging product data, mainly suppliers and retailers. This system can have a big impact in PDM process, potentially reducing errors and inefficiencies to zero. This research aims at addressing the preconditions that are needed to successfully implement this system in a supply chain network. There is evidence that this critical phase can often be underestimated by supply chain professionals. Many FMCG organization have not been able to implement the system despite of the benefits that would bring to the network. A case study is the research methodology used to gather primary data. Other sources such as scientific articles and consulting reports are used to gather secondary data. Henkel and its retailers in the Netherlands and Belgium is the supply chain network used in this case study. The research is performed using an adapted IOS adoption framework. The IOS framework from Pang & Bunker is adapted with the particular characteristics of the GDSN in order to be able to analyze the case using this stand-alone framework. This methodology proves the reliability and validity of the research, as it is founded in a scientific framework. The new research framework is used in the case study to identify the preconditions that play a fundamental role in the success of the project. Finally the critical success factors are outlined, discussed and validated.","Global Standards; Global Data Synchronization Network; Supply Chain Visibility; Operational Efficiency; FMCG Industry; Inter-Organizational Information Systems","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c1abb83a-9b96-4583-bca6-bfb805f1ebfc","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c1abb83a-9b96-4583-bca6-bfb805f1ebfc","E-Marketplace Platform Adoption in the Construction Industry: A Qualitative Study on Adoption Barriers","Koeman, Niels (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Cunningham, S. (graduation committee); Tan, Y. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2020-05-22","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:76fc815e-b11a-4fdc-932b-35e398c4d89d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:76fc815e-b11a-4fdc-932b-35e398c4d89d","The impact of blockchain technology on insurance business models: Stress testing the insurers' business models using the STOF Model","Klomp, Laurens (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, Robert (graduation committee); Bouwman, Harry (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Zenlin (mentor); van der Bosch, Tommie (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","As the insurance industry engages in numerous processes which are characterized by the exchange of data which is updated by multiple parties; a blockchain, as a single source of truth, has the potential to increase efficiency and reduce the complexity of these processes. However, the complexity, uncertainty, transforming potential and barriers to adoption associated with blockchain technology make it hard to assess its impact on insurers. Therefore, this research aims to help insurance industry business decision makers to anticipate the impact of blockchain technology on their business models, by finding the most important parts of the business model that need to be addressed. It does so by means of expert interviews and a business model stress test workshop. In this workshop, experts assess the impact of uncertain future developments on an insurance reference business model which is described using the STOF business model ontology.
It has been found that currently, enterprise-grade blockchain solutions that meet the requirements of the insurance industry regarding governance, privacy, scalability, identity and access management, security and reliability are not available. Besides no concrete insurance use cases that will actually realize benefits have been found. Therefore, it is hard to justify investments that are specifically targeted at blockchain technology. However, there are two investments insurers should make that are not specifically targeted at blockchain technology, but will prepare insurers for technological innovation, whether blockchain will reach maturity in the near future or not. The first and most important investment is related to standardization. The workshops led to the insight that the most crucial uncertainty outcome is the strength of cooperation. The standardization of data formats and field descriptions is a prerequisite for this cooperation. Insurers just started this standardization in order to facilitate data exchange with other insurers. Insurers should continue their standardization efforts, as it will facilitate data exchange in the insurance value chain and being compliant with GDPR, regardless whether blockchain will be implemented. The second investment is related to rationalization, it will enable insurers to respond more quickly to changes in IT and be compliant with regulation. Blockchain can be a driver for thinking about how systems can be developed to support decentralization, a division of roles and agility, however, the rationalization process should not be targeted to a specific blockchain platform, as it is hard to choose from the scattered field of blockchain platforms.
Currently, there is no scientific study that combines the technical, economical, social and political perspectives to evaluate the feasibility of fast charging. This research determines the current and future feasibility of fast charging in Dutch cities. An exploratory case study of the major Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht is performed. The political economy theory on transport innovations by Feitelson and Salomon is used as the theoretical perspective. From the research it is concluded that fast charging is increasingly feasible as a charging solution in Dutch cities. Currently, there is a focus on normal charging in cities caused by the current EVs and charging technology. The developments sparked by larger batteries and faster charging however increase the feasibility of fast charging. As EV adoption accelerates, a more hybrid mix of normal and fast charging solutions is needed in crowded cities to accommodate the charging needs. The increasing industry interest, consumer attitude and high charging capacity make fast charging an important factor in the future public charging infrastructure.","Electric Vehicle; Charging Infrastructure; Policy; Fast Charging; EV; Urban Environment; Socio-technical transition","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2018-02-22","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c3056db7-c150-4c1a-8e23-c2a1cbb1b4ce","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c3056db7-c150-4c1a-8e23-c2a1cbb1b4ce","How David became Goliath's teacher: The Exploratory Evaluation of an Internal Corporate Accelerator Program","zeeuw, joost (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van Geenhuizen, M.S. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Shroff, K. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2018","This report set out to provide an answer on the question of whether the standard format of a startup accelerator program would transfer well to an internal corporate accelerator program, and, when this was proven to not be the case, it was shown how this format could be adapted for internal corporate purposes by answering the three empirical research questions of the study. The first question was concerned with whether the components of this standard startup accelerator format would reduce the difficulty in reaching the goals of an internal corporate accelerator program, and it was shown that only half of the components in fact did so. The second question was what the actual levels of difficulty in reaching the goals of such a program were, and it was found that there was a strong distribution in the experienced levels of difficulty with reaching the goals by the population that was analyzed in the current study. The third and final question concerned whether this observed distribution in the levels of experienced difficulty could be explained by the characteristics that characterize internal corporate New Product Development projects, and it was found that this was indeed possible for some of the goals.
The results of these analyses were combined to formulate a set of design principles, which could be used to determine which components to include in a personalized internal corporate accelerator program, depending on the characteristics of a specific project in the program. Furthermore, it was shown how the design principles could be used to determine the proper division of time and resources over these components in the program. Finally, it was argued that the principles could be used for selection purposes, to select only those projects to partake in an internal corporate accelerator program that would stand to gain the most benefit from such a program. After formulating the design principles for such programs, it was argued that these internal corporate accelerator programs could be used as a vehicle for introducing improvements to the regular New Product Development processes of corporate organizations.
Previous research has taken highly technical views on the problem. Refrigeration and insulation techniques research result in efficient reefers, but innovations in this area seem to reduce. However, Lukasse et al. (2013); Barzin et al. (2015. 2016) have shown that advanced control systems can reduce the energy consumption of individual reefers significantly. More recent and promising studies of van Duin (2016) focus on the broader picture of multiple reefers connected simultaneously at the container terminal. Filina and Filin (2008) have taken a process-based view by investigating factors that lead to power-out moments within the supply chain. Meanwhile, the root-cause of energy consumptions remains un-researched.
A sequential multiple regression analysis with backwards feature selection is performed. A model is found in which the number of arriving reefers, dwell time, plug-in temperature, insulation value, and cargo type are found to be significant. The developed model shows that the number of arriving reefers explains 76,6% of the variance, dwell time 4,6%, cargo type 1,1%, thermal insulation 0,3% and the delta plug-in temperature 0,4%.
Finally, an improvement for the dwell time is developed as this produces the highest yield. It is suggested that long stay reefers can only be targeted if the revenue of the container terminal does not reduce. Therefore, two Revenue Management schemes are proposed: a complex dynamic pricing scheme and peak pricing. Dynamic pricing requires fixed capacity, perfect knowledge of demand, and price sensitivity. Peak pricing scheme is less fine-tuned and does not require perfect demand knowledge. Additionally, price sensitivity is not a requirement when using peak pricing as the peak price an incentive for fast collection of the reefer. Considering the perfect demand knowledge requirement, it is attempted to predict the energy consumption using only data known to the terminal prior to the ships arrival. Using a neural network, it is attempted to predict the dwell time with the purpose of using this in the energy consumption model. The neural network has shown that the dwell time cannot be predicted with the available data. This reduces the prediction accuracy of the model. Additionally, Dutch importers of perishable goods indicate that demand is not price-sensitive. Therefore, a peak pricing scheme is advised to provide an incentive reduce the dwell time. An effective implementation of peak pricing provides 5,5% to 11,6% reduction in energy consumption. Estimations show that the energy reduction is achieved without decreasing revenue of the terminal.
• Optimising local grid assets by increasing the utilisation factor, and thereby maximise asset efficiency and subsequently decrease costs, which is beneficial for the DSO
• Scheduling of peak charging demand to aid congestion in distribution grids.
The modelling of the demand response charging strategies in Amsterdam fills the knowledge gap towards handling congestion for the DSO. It also provides a new study that addresses the potential to postpone future distribution grid investments by using charging strategies specifically for Amsterdam. The main research question that this study addresses is therefore:
What is the value of demand response management in a Vehicle-to-Grid network and does it provide increased benefits to smart charging for consumers and the distribution system operator in Amsterdam?
In order to grasp the subject of congestion prevention within the time limits of graduation, the scope of this study is limited to assess the first mentioned item by modelling charging demand, and subsequently simulate optimal demand response charging strategies for a case study in Amsterdam’s local power grid. The motivation for this study is threefold. Firstly, providing insight and recommendations in Amsterdam’s BEV charging demand to compute the potential to provide demand flexibility by making use of a large-scale charging sessions data (2017-2018). Literature that uses such a vast data set for Amsterdam is scarce. Therefore, typical demand behaviour for daily and seasonal variation or periodicity is assessed by using a method of time series analysis and local regression analysis to derive time- and load-flexibility parameters. These parameters de- scribe the measures for which demand response is generally defined. Secondly, a linear programming model is developed that optimises charging demand of smart charging and V2G charging strategies for demand response purposes to aid congestion at local feeders in the distribution grid of Liander. Lastly, an information-task exchange protocol is de- scribed from the perspective of a multi-aggregator to perform coordinated DR.
Further investigation about the usable amount of flexibility is simulated with linear programming for charging strategies (smart charging and V2G charging) to aid in local feeder congestion. In this research a case study is performed on data of a low-voltage feeder under different congestion situations, and a range of different number of BEVS connected to explore future distribution grid implications. Results show that the model’s performance works especially well during peak demand periods throughout the day. In addition, the V2G strategy outperforms charged prices per kWh in almost every simulation compared to the uncontrolled scenario, by both charging during periods of low prices and discharging during periods of high prices even though the LP model does not optimise on prices. Thus, the V2G strategy allows the DSO to postpone grid investments in a number of cases while simultaneously the consumer almost always receives remuneration for its delivered services. The V2G strategy therefore provides a significantly added value over a smart charging strategy, by allowing electric vehicles to be charged whenever the feeder exhibits congestion. Future work includes analysis towards the value of DR in a liberalised system regarding the subject of the split-incentives challenge. Who initiates demand response (consumer, retailer, aggregator, DSO) and how should the benefits be divided along the supply chain. Handling an optimisation problem of DR for holds strong requirements for an global system balance in which neither participating actors are discriminated and the whole system benefits. An assessment of relational dependencies between participators in DR should be incorporated in designing charging strategies.","Smart charging; Vehicle-to-Grid; Demand Response","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:13eaecd4-65f8-4e94-a164-6120b1ee47d4","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:13eaecd4-65f8-4e94-a164-6120b1ee47d4","Successful market entry in the European commercial space industry","Drost, Kirsten (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van Beers, Cees (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","","market entry; space; Business Model","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:0bb56c81-e923-4598-a13b-f2461d60f5ce","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0bb56c81-e923-4598-a13b-f2461d60f5ce","Stimulation of Dutch startups in the Aerospace: A comparative case study on the barriers that dutch startups will face entering the aerospace market and how they can be overcome","van Wirdum, Kelly (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","The aerospace industry may seem a very innovative and renewing sector. However, when looking at the evolution of the aeroplane, it is clear that no radical innovation has taken place the last 70 years. It is not surprising considering the domination of the industry by big, traditional companies, who are known to be slow innovators. The most important source of innovation are startups, and these are lacking in the aerospace industry. The many barriers of the aerospace industry make the industry unattractive for startups. The research objective is: How can startup companies be stimulated to enter the aerospace industry, an industry dominated by big, traditional, companies? To develop a theory on how to make the aerospace industry more attractive for startups detection of the barriers and solutions is needed. Factors that do have a positive influence on the entrance of startups in the aerospace industry are support programmes and the self efficacy of the entrepreneur. A literature study on success factors and barriers that startups have faced in comparable industries led to a long list of potential barriers. To determine which of these barriers apply to the aerospace, a case study on six Dutch startups in the aerospace industry is conducted. By using semi-structured interviews barriers are acknowledges, along with the severity of the barrier, the link with support activities and the level of self efficacy of the founders. There were four barriers that were perceived by all six cases. The first one lack in financial strength, a barrier that every industry faces but the aerospace even more because of their capital intense product, strict regulation, and slow industry. Support programmes can increase the financial strength with funds. The second barrier is the network density, having a dense network is absolutely crucial in the aerospace industry. Support programmes often have partners or can offer their own network to their startups as support. The third barrier are the strict regulations of the aerospace industry and the certification. This is a very time and money consuming barrier, incubators do not offer support with certification The best support for this barrier would be a collaboration with a large company, who can help and offer testing facilities free of charge. the last barrier is the slowness of the industry, unfortunately there is no support activity that can help with this barrier. Striking was that the level of entrepreneurial self efficacy did not seem to influence the type and severity of the perceived barriers. It did seem to influence what support activities are important. The higher the level of self efficacy the less need for support activities. Some important findings were that the cases did not experience the power of the large companies as a barrier and that the cases were not looking for collaborations to overcome barriers, an easier way to overcome barriers is to form a collaboration with a large company that has all the right resources and network. For any further research, the number of cases can be extended. For example adding cases that did fail, cases that are not part of a support programme. The results of this study can contribute to practical matters by startups, interesting in entering the aerospace industry, and support programmes, wanting to improve their support activities.","Entrepreneurship; Aerospace; Startups; Self efficacy","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:e1ea48b3-aee3-4cbc-985c-708949773057","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e1ea48b3-aee3-4cbc-985c-708949773057","The adoption and diffusion of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: The factors that drive and impede the adoption and diffusion of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies of private communication and data storage","Hup, Ben (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Asghari, Hadi (mentor); Scholten, Victor (graduation committee); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Privacy and security are perceived as of great importance. However, readily available Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and their development, innovation and standardization is not very forthcoming. Indeed, the dominant business model is privacy invasive: gathering and using private data as part of the business model to safeguard continuity. Meanwhile, users want their digital privacy and security safeguarded. The research strategy consists of desk research (analysing transcripts and the literature) followed by a survey to quantitatively analyse and find drivers and barriers of Privacy-Enhancing Technology adoption and diffusion. The research objective is to discover what managerial and policy recommendations can be stated in order to help PET producing organizations to increase the adoption and diffusion of PETs in general.","Privacy-Enhancing Technology; PET; adoption; diffusion; managerial; management; policy; consumer; business; entrepreneurship","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:d9fdfd1d-1087-4c95-a254-679701940cc3","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d9fdfd1d-1087-4c95-a254-679701940cc3","Data Quality in Inter-Organizational Product Information Sharing: Improving Quality of Product Master Data Exchanged Through Data Pools","Leeuwenburg, Frank (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tan, Y. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); van Engelenburg, S.H. (mentor); Klievink, A.J. (mentor); Martijn, N.L. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Product master data (PMD) can be defined as a set of data that represents a selection of characteristics and aspects of its accompanying physical product. For several reasons, these data sets are increasingly exchanged between organizations within supply chains. Although this process is traditionally often supported by non-automated technologies such as Excel spreadsheet, telephone, email, and fax, the adoption of data pools is on the rise. These inter-organizational systems allow the data supplying party to publish a product’s master data set in one centralized system after which it can be accessed by all subscribed data recipients.","Supply Chain Collaboration; Information Exchange; Data Quality; Product Master Data; Data Pools","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:57a47fe1-5a2b-4f72-98ed-f7372b359170","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:57a47fe1-5a2b-4f72-98ed-f7372b359170","Collaborative Servitization: Designing a decision support model for matching asset owners and manufacturers to enact collaborative servitization in the Dutch maritime industry","Wolkenfelt, Vincent (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Lukszo, Z. (mentor); van Fenema, Paul (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","","Service Innovation; Servitization; Collaboration; Maintenance; Decision-making; Decision support tool; Maritime Industry","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:46c45bf7-73b0-40d0-8c3b-71bd8817f61d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:46c45bf7-73b0-40d0-8c3b-71bd8817f61d","Multi-agent System Applied in the Analysis of Servitization Difficulty in Chinese MNE Greenfield Subsidiaries: An Exploratory Case Study","Yang, Shen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Dignum, M.V. (mentor); Rook, L. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Over the last 20 years, the Chinese corporations have accumulated essential technological competencies such as those in the consumer goods manufacturing and information technologies. Therefore, Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) have high global ambitions to expand their reach into the foreign markets as an important role in contributing to the rising economic power of China. They are establishing greenfield subsidiaries from the ground up to penetrate into foreign markets. On the other hand, service offerings and service solutions are becoming the popular options for the consumption of our daily life. It has a huge potential for company to increase the customer engagement and “lock in” the customers. The term “servitization” is going viral nowadays which refers to an organizational transformation of companies from being a product-centered organization to being a service provider for customers. However, given the more and more integrated world economy, the servitization difficulties that are faced by companies, especially Chinese MNEs, are even more complex due to the changing environment and the involvement of different stakeholders in a global environment. This problem of servitization, especially for the greenfield subsidiaries of the Chinese MNEs, gets even difficult to be handled.
This research explains the reasons of why the Chinese MNE greenfield subsidiaries are facing many obstacles. By looking into the characteristics of the organization, this research suggested that the performance of the servitization is correlated to the organizational features. Using agent-based model OperA to study the servitization in the organization is served as an exploration of a new approach to study the servitization. The insights that are explored from this approach is able to assist the future studies of other research problems regarding the servitization. On the other hand, people in the industries of different countries could be aware of the challenges of the globalization of Chinese MNEs, as well as the issues that they are facing. Understanding their problems will be helpful to establish better business cooperation and networking connections with the Chinese MNEs.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f5ce5976-a9d2-4b63-8ffe-6419e722c973","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f5ce5976-a9d2-4b63-8ffe-6419e722c973","The influence of mentorship in accelerator programs to the start-ups’ growth: A case study in a start-up accelerator company","Padilla Nuñez, Belen (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van Geenhuizen, M.S. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van der Voort, H.G. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","","start-up accelerator; start-up growth; mentorship; mentoring","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:040d5638-636a-4524-8c4a-be9b9a341ba2","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:040d5638-636a-4524-8c4a-be9b9a341ba2","Improving Maintenance of Material Handling Systems: Matching a maintenance approach that explores the operational dynamics of the transportation industry at TNT Express","Commandeur, Jim (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Lukszo, Z. (mentor); van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M. (mentor); Geurts, Rengko (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Due to automation and robotization of material handling systems (MHS) in the transportation industry, maintaining equipment and systems becomes more important, and needs to be integrated in the company’s business strategy (Tsang, 2002). Implementing and investing in the right maintenance approach to keep these systems in optimum state is therefore essential for the performance of a company and more important, for the customer’s satisfaction. When a company has to deal with an increase in failures and decreasing performance, it needs to anticipate to change this negative trend. In literature, most of these problems are analysed by using electronic data and condition-based monitoring (Bouvard, Artus, Bérenguer, & Cocquempot, 2011). Analysing the condition of equipment requires data monitoring which is not always possible. Besides, these analyses are often based on a single system which conditions do not apply on systems with different specifications. TNT Express (initiator of this research) is dealing with this problem within the Benelux. They are dealing with decreasing on-time delivery (OTD) performance and increasing costs of smaller sorting-sites without technicians. Having high OTD performance is an essential element of TNT’s business strategy, and is a competitive advantage in their industry. Their time-critical processes combined with the interrelated network structure of their sites makes it hard to develop a single strategy or solution that positively affects the performance of all sites. The differences in size, work methods, level of technology, different size of freight and fluctuating demands makes it a dynamic and complex environment with a lot of variables that influence the performance of on-time delivery. That makes it hard to identify the causes and effects of these failures over time. Besides, TNT doesn’t have the useful data to base their maintenance on. Therefore, finding the bottlenecks and the right variables that influence this performance most is essential for decreasing the costs of TNT. Therefore, the objective of this research is: “Identify the constraints of TNT’s Material Handling Systems in a dynamic environment, to be able to apply the right maintenance strategy that preserves TNT’s delivery performance at lower cost.” Before a start could be made on finding the bottlenecks of the sorting sites, TNT’s maintenance structure, operational structure, financial structure and operational structure needed to be defined. TNT’s sorting operation, where freight is unloaded, sorted, measures and loaded, runs around 19 hours a day, 6 days a week all year long. That limits the time for maintenance and check-ups to 6 hours a day. Still, a fast response is needed when the sorter does fail during operation, to prevent the process getting delayed which generates extra costs. TNT’s maintenance of those sites turned out to be depending on mostly corrective maintenance, and less on preventive and predictive maintenance. Mechanics are traveling from site to site to solve current incidents that cause delays, and less for preventive maintenance and check-ups. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are also responsible for some maintenance activities, although these are mostly time-based and less used for trouble shooting. When specifying TNT’s on-time delivery performance, the performance of the sorting sites turned out to be the most important factor of the OTD. This sorting site performance is measured by the capacity of freight it theoretically can handle, and the amount of freight it is transporting in reality. This site performance is also influenced by several variables, where the Material Handling Systems availability turned out to be the largest influential variable. The failing devices and equipment are the cause that IV operators on the floor have to sort manually, which takes a lot more time. Besides, these delays are generating extra costs, only how much and which costs is not quite clear. TNT’s limited registration of essential elements like downtime, maintenance costs and OEM activities made it difficult to link these elements, and to find possible bottlenecks. So, to be able to link the MHS- downtime with the related costs on a daily basis, three Critical-to-Quality factors (CTQs) are analysed: Breakdown costs Maintenance costs MHS availability Because the financial impact of a breakdown was not yet specified, the most important factors are determined by interviewing business improvement experts. Some costs turned out to be different for the import or export process during a working day. For TNT, the next financial factors turned out to be important: 1. Missed Check-Weight-Cube (CWC) revenue 2. Hiring extra vans and trucks 3. Personnel costs (overtime) 4. Financial consequences of lower service level (loss of customers) From these factors, the missed CWC revenue turned out to be largest costs factor in the import process, where hiring extra trucks and vans turned out to be the largest costs factor of the export process. These two factors are further specified and calculated, to link them to specific breakdowns. Depending on the volume in different locations, the missed CWC revenue is variating between €000,- and €000,- for a single shift per day. These costs are calculated by determining the number of packages that are affected by a breakdown and do not get a second weighing check on a next location, multiplied by the average revenue missed per parcel. These calculations showed that without a working sorter or CWC on a single location comes with large financial consequences. These specific insights in CWC revenue loss show the need for fewer failures to improve the financial performance of TNT by changing the maintenance activities. The extra costs of hiring extra vans to transport all freight towards the customers in the export process turned out to be €000,- for a single shift (1day). These costs are in the same order as the CWC revenue losses, and from financial perspective just as bad. The cost analysis regarding this data showed how disperse the information is within TNT, and that it is hard to develop a strategy without this kind of crucial information. Maintenance costs are referred as costs that are made to solve the incidents and include, service contracts, mechanics salaries etc. However, costs that are made for decreasing the number of incidents are more important. Think of hiring extra employees, changing service contracts, training current employees. Quantifying these costs is only possible when the bottlenecks of the breakdowns have been derived. V The lacking quality of the data regarding downtime and availability of the MHS made it impossible to use mathematical solutions to find the bottlenecks, so “Soft Operations Research” methods have been used to find the causes of the failures (Heyer, 2004; Masys, 2015). Using Pareto charts and Ishikawa diagrams on the incident file controlled by TNT’s mechanics, the data in this file is structured and enriched to find failures with recurring root causes that are a structural problem. First, three devices that have the most impact on the MHS availability are determined. These are the Sorter, Roller track/belts and Check- Weigh-Cube (CWC) and are responsible for 130 of the 210 incidents for the first 5 months in 2017, which represents more than 60% of all incidents of the MHS. The registered incident data of these three devices is enriched by going a step further in the cause, structuring all data, and visualising them in an Ishikawa diagram. By doing so, it became clear that a high number of incidents (35%) have an operation cause, which means that they are caused by human error. These incidents are not specifically location bounded, and solving the most frequent occurring incidents will prevent a lot of future incidents. The three selected root causes that are responsible for most incidents are: 1. Lack of system knowledge Operators, especially Team Leaders (TL) and Leading Hands (LH), have too little knowledge of the process, the effects of failures and simple technical solutions. There skills haven’t been developed with the increasing mechanisation. Not knowing the impact of failures, and how simple incidents can be prevented leads to unnecessary failures. 2. Sensor related incidents A large part of those operational incidents are sensor related. Because these incidents are still frequently occurring, they need to be handled separately. These incidents can be solved quite easy most of the times, and a support system to help operators to solve them is very helpful. 3. Lack of working according instructions A large part of the incidents are caused by wrong choices of operators, by putting wrong parcels on the sorter, putting them on the sorter at the wrong place or working not according the given instructions. The lack of knowing the consequences results in an uninterested work attitude which results in a performance decrease of the sorting site. For these three root causes, several improvements have been developed. For the first root cause, a training program is recommended which start with a well-communicated plan to create the urge for change. The current attitude of personnel is asking for a plan that provides support from the whole organisation. TNT needs to know the value of knowledge amongst their employees, and this needs support from top management. Combining this with low-technical training sessions and useful supporting tools will increase the employees’ knowledge, and also creates ownership with the employees. To do so, TNT needs to review its distribution between part-time employees from employment agencies, and employees contracted by TNT. Increasing system knowledge amongst employees is only effective if that knowledge stays within the company. Rewarding well performing VI employees with a contract by TNT will have positive effect on the knowledge on the work floor and not only prevents, but also decreases the amount of downtime. For sensor related incidents, a supporting manual has been developed that functions as a simple flow chart that guides TL through the process of solving these failures. Following these steps in the included manual gives simple but clear instructions how to act and what to do. Before using this supporting manual, the TL need sufficient training before they can execute the process. Although this solution is more focussed on corrective maintenance, this manual helps to solve simple incidents that mechanics do not have to solve by themselves. Not only are these incidents solved much quicker, due to direct handling of the TL, but the mechanics do not have to drive towards the location of the incident. That also gives the mechanics more time to do preventive maintenance tasks, and therefore further decrease the number of incidents of the MHS. This manual strengthens the need for more direct or autonomous maintenance within the sorting sites of TNT (Chen, 2013). Currently, these sites are too depended on the knowledge of external maintenance providers to repair the failures which is not desirable. To improve that employees work more according instructions, better supervision is advised and recommendations are made to reward well-performing operators. Rewarding operators also means that they will be more responsible for their colleagues and have to make sure that they understand the instructions. They become responsible for preventing wrong parcels being put on the sorter, and have to correct their employees if they ignore the instructions because a lot of incidents are caused by wrong packages being put on the sorter. However, TNT should also improve the visibility and clarity of these instructions by using dummy parcels to indicate the allowed parcels sizes. Improving this product flow on the sorter will improve the sorters performance and lowers the number of incidents. The effect of these improvement could only be expressed by a decrease on the number of incidents, and not on downtime due to lacking data registration. If, as a starting point, already half of these structural incidents is solved by these improvements, the total amount of these 210 incidents over 2017 would already decrease with 13%. Due to the unknown length of the breakdowns, they cannot be compared to financial results although these results definitely improve. All these improvements are based on autonomous maintenance which is focussed on letting operators do more maintenance and technical tasks. Finally, all these improvements will help retaining TNT’s on-time delivery and decrease their breakdown costs. This process of finding these bottlenecks led to an even more valuable advice for gathering data. This research showed that TNT needs to improve their data collection system, and document important factors with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) like time registration, downtime during operations, and weight of breakdown. This data also needs to be accessible for OEM’s, so they also have insight in the failures, and can help improve the MHS performance. With this data, TNT can measure the downtime and better monitor its MHS availability to see which devices or incidents need further improvement. The importance of such data collection system is once emphasized by the fact that it was hard to determine the bottlenecks, especially with multiple locations at the sorting locations of TNT. VII The goal was to identify the constraints in a dynamic environment that has a lot of influential factors that make it hard to determine the effects of these variables. Using multiple techniques based on the number of incidents and the failure history, the first bottlenecks could be derived that needed improvement. Together with a costs analysis on the most important financial factors, solutions and recommendations are developed that will retain TNT’s on-time delivery at lower costs. However, the recommendations for a more centralized data-based maintenance system could even be more valuable in the future.","Transport Logistics; Maintenance; Availability","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:7460c9f5-0a57-47c7-80a5-e8c9202acf7b","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7460c9f5-0a57-47c7-80a5-e8c9202acf7b","Permanent Organisation of the Olympic Games in Greece: Infrastructure and Technology Management Issues","Papadimitropoulos, George (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Mouter, Niek (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Zenlin (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:12c88252-cfd0-4b9a-8ede-c1b1307cce79","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:12c88252-cfd0-4b9a-8ede-c1b1307cce79","Factors influencing the information sharing arrangements: An empirical study of their implementation between private companies and their banking partners in Colombia","Ortiz Lopez, Humberto (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tan, Y. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Praditya, D (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Companies that establish relationships with other organizations, submerge in a process of decision making in terms of the agreements related to information sharing that should be held between them and their allies, customers or providers. The involved organizations, in the information sharing arrangements, have to make a determination toward the type of system to be used to exchange information, and the governance of the systems to structure its management mechanisms. There is a comprehensive literature regarding the adoption of inter-organizational organization systems (IOS) including areas like factors that affect their implementation, benefits for the organizations that use them and the different existing types of IOS. There is also broad literature about information technology (IT) governance. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research debate concerning the factors that affect both, the implementation of information exchange systems and the IT governance of such systems.
This study aims to close the aforementioned gap by bringing an explanation about which factors influence the implementation of either a dyadic or a multilateral typology of information exchange system, used among companies, and the IT governance design whether it is centralized, federal or decentralized of such information system IS. Specifically, this research is addressed as an empirical study on how internal and external factors motivate companies to follow an information sharing arrangement which is formed by the typology and the IT governance of the information exchange system. The scope of this research is narrowed to the information sharing arrangements between private companies and their banking allies in Colombia, since the private companies in the South American country are the selected population; the central research question of this research is: Which factors influence the information sharing arrangements between private organizations and their banking allies?...","Information sharing arrangements; inter-organizational information systems; IOS; dyadic IT platforms; multilateral IT platforms","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:008ad811-2502-4782-8495-958a5f718dfd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:008ad811-2502-4782-8495-958a5f718dfd","Modelling the interaction between policies and international trade flows for liquid biofuels: A case study on the European Union as an export market for biodiesel","van Tol, Maurits (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Engineering, Systems and Services)","Weijnen, Margot (mentor); Lukszo, Zofia (mentor); Franssen, Maarten (mentor); Moncada Escudero, Jorge (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Biofuels are inextricably bound up with policy. Various drivers can be identified for the production and consumption of biofuels, such as environmental considerations, energy security and economic development. Therefore, biofuels may be an appealing option to policy makers. Biofuels are in general more expensive to produce than their fossil counterparts. Therefore, (support) policy is necessary to increase the competitiveness of biofuels. Policy makers can implement various measures to realize the potential benefits of biofuels, such as import- and export tariffs, imposing trade embargoes, offering subsidies, mandating blending targets and creating tax exemptions. However, the biofuel market is an international affair, because demand and supply of feedstock and biofuel are unequally distributed around the globe. In the past it appeared that domestic biofuel policies could have major unforeseen and unintended effects on the international bioenergy markets.
The influence of policy measures on the global bioenergy markets is not extensively investigated. Lamers et al. [2011] found that trade volumes were largely influenced by import duties, whereas trade routes were mainly driven by tariff preferences. In other words, it is found that there is some interaction between policies and patterns of international trade flows (in terms of volumes and routes) of biofuels and feedstock. However, the study performed by Lamers et al. [2011] did not explain the underlying mechanism. The aim of this research is to fill this knowledge gap. With this knowledge, decision making by policy makers may become better informed and aforementioned effects of policies may be reduced or even prevented.
The main research question addressed in this research is: Which mechanism can explain the effect of policies on emerging patterns in the international trade flows of liquid biofuels and feedstock? To answer this question, an agent-based model (ABM) of the international liquid biofuel markets is developed. If literature on international trade flows for bioenergy is reviewed, it appears that the models applied are usually general- or partial equilibrium models. Contrary to equilibrium models, ABM allows for heterogeneous actors with bounded rationality, the ability to learn and intrinsic behavioural traits. Above that, geographical aspects can be incorporated. It is hypothesized that these factors play an important role in international bioenergy trade. Therefore, this approach could be of added value to the current strand of literature in which equilibrium models are applied.
To limit the scope of this research, a case study is performed. In this case study a number of key players in the international biodiesel market are considered: the European Union, Indonesia and Malaysia. Since the take-off of the biodiesel industry (around the year 2000), the European Union has been one of the largest producers and consumers of biodiesel in the world. In addition, the European biodiesel market has been targeted as an export market for biodiesel and feedstock (palm oil) by Indonesia and Malaysia. In view of the case study, the focus of this research is on first-generation liquid biofuels.","Liquid biofuel; International Trade; Policy; Agent-Based Modelling; Bioenergy; Biodiesel; Palm oil; European Union; Indonesia; Malaysia; Vegetable oil; Oilseed","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:3709aa32-53cc-4b6d-8b2c-60bcdb35cb94","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3709aa32-53cc-4b6d-8b2c-60bcdb35cb94","The future of floriculture logistics: A logistic design for the floriculture chain for the year 2025, incorporating feasible trends and developments","Beemster, Diana (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Tavasszy, Lorant (mentor); Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Throughout this report a logistic design for the floriculture supply chain from the growers to the buyers of the flower auction is developed to be feasible around the year 2025. Trends and developments in and around the floriculture market as consolidation of transport, shift in customer demand and the Internet of Things are plotted on a hype cycle to test which trends are feasible in this market on the mid-term. This analysis in combination with a relationship analysis results in two solution directions that include a lot of other trends and developments and could be feasible to implement before 2025. Those two solution directions are a virtual storage and a hub-network and are elaborated into conceptual designs. These designs operate on different levels and could be combined for a future logistic design. In this final design, storage hubs and transit hubs will deal with physical products with a focus on storage of goods for just in time delivery and consolidation. The virtual storage is represented in a commercial and transportation platform. On the commercial platform products can be sold at any time and place in the world even if they are not physically located in a storage. The transportation platform will take care of consolidation of product flows and the assignment of transport orders to logistics providers. The combination of those two conceptual designs with inclusion of the described trends is expected to be feasible before 2025, however, the implementation in this complex floriculture market will take a lot of effort and trust from all stakeholders.","design; logistics; supply chain; floriculture","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:cdde24a4-6ce2-4ba9-b4fd-f6f76bf406dd","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cdde24a4-6ce2-4ba9-b4fd-f6f76bf406dd","The Influence of Big Data Implementation towards Business Models in Different Sectors","Bonifacius Adrianto, Bonifacius Adri (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Werker, C. (mentor); Cunningham, S. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","There is nowadays an increased use of data, reaching 2.5 exabytes globally, and is expected to double every two years (Morvan, 2016). An enormous amount of data can now be generated, ranging from smartphones to sensors in machineries. However, most organizations are reported to be able to only create and store data, and creating added value from data is a major challenge for many organizations (Akerkar et al., 2015). Only 4% of companies across industries have the capabilities to create value through Big Data (Bertocco & Padmanabhan, 2014). Organizations might want to look into their business model, as adjusting their business model can facilitate the implementation (Muhtaroğlu, Demir, Obalı, & Girgin, 2013), and can result in more efficient business operations (Loebbecke & Picot, 2015). Organizations also face different circumstances (e.g. problems, challenges, applications), since they are located in different sectors (Vega-Gorgojo, Fjellheim, Roman, Akerkar, & Waaler, 2016). Therefore, this study aims to see more into the relationship between sector characteristics and the impact on business model when implementing Big Data, by means of interviews in the setting of explorative & qualitative study. Oil & gas, manufacturing, and health sector are chosen for the purpose of this study, due to the potential of Big Data implementation in these three sectors. Canvas business model template is chosen to provide the clarity of the impact on business model. From this study, Big Data is seen as a systemic innovation, due to the necessary changes in technological, organizational, and institutional aspects of the existing innovation system in a sector. The study also shows that activities, resources, and value propositions are core in the implementation, where implementing Big Data into the activities will result in improvement of value proposition, and enabled by resources. The changes in those three aspects can lead to changes in other aspects of business model, such as partnership, customer relationship, and financial. Customer segments remain unaffected, due to the specificity of value perceived by a certain segment. However, it might change in the future in the case that a new value is offered. It is found that a certain sector characteristic or combination of sector characteristics influences how organization adjusts their business model, but more importantly, the causes that shapes such characteristics need to be considered well.","Big Data; Business Model; Canvas; Sector Characteristics; Innovation system","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:a53afad3-38e6-457e-87b7-38cecf84b6f0","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a53afad3-38e6-457e-87b7-38cecf84b6f0","Analysis of Demand Volatility: A Case Study at Infineon Technologies AG","Munaron, Vittoria (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Ludema, M.W. (mentor); Lukszo, Z. (graduation committee); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Lauer, Tim (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","In today ́s world, supply chains are facing a rising number of challenges due to a fast changing environment and business structure. Increasing globalization and market competition have forced companies to expand their business networks, moving from local to more complex and vulnerable supply chains. As the key pain point to supply chain management organizations, demand volatility has become a priority to deal with for the years ahead. The phenomenon is commonly referred to variable and unpredictable changes in demand, causing companies risks as excessive capacity and inventory costs. Supply chain leaders are concerned over demand volatility and the often inability to perceive its causes and proactively manage and mitigate them.
Although the recent attention given to the challenge, most literature research in the field fail to deliver a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon and its major drivers. Often, demand volatility is given for granted without digging into its nature, being the focus directly on ”how” rather than ”why” volatility exists. Increasing transparency and visibility on the issue has called the need for the study, performed on the assignment of a leading European semiconductor company, Infineon Technologies AG. Demand volatility has been always a challenge to the sector, whose unique characteristics enhance the complexity of the industry. The management of the company is willing to increase the awareness and responsiveness towards the phenomenon once having a clear picture of the issue and its relevant sources. Therefore, the present Thesis Project aims at exploring the nature of demand volatility, determining and analyzing its causes as well as root causes. The study looks at the challenge from a more holistic view, taking into consideration factors outside and inside the business, either at macro and micro level. As outcome of the research, a volatility model is designed able to measure the extent of volatility, understand and access its causes, and possible counteractions.","Demand Volatility; Root Causes; Model; Supply Chain; Infineon Technologies AG","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:101e9325-956b-4faa-9c9b-267ed4222217","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:101e9325-956b-4faa-9c9b-267ed4222217","Testing Business Model Innovation Tooling for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Multiple Case Study on the Business Model Stress Test","van Beusekom, Tom (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, Mark (mentor); Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Purpose
Technology on itself does not have a standalone value. Value is allocated by the business model that is used to bring it to the market. A business model describes the value creation and capture mechanisms of the firm. In a dynamic world, businesses face potential disruption when confronted with trends like servitization, digitation, Internet-of-Things, or changing consumer behaviour and competitive pressure. This makes that managers and business owners in all kinds of industries are increasingly forced to innovate their business models.
To support managers and business owners in understanding business models and the innovation thereof, tooling has been developed, for instance to assist in mapping a business model, or helping in the transition from an old existing one, to a new business model.
However, most of the tooling has been developed based on what large corporations to; it has not been developed in the context of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Considering the fact that 99,8 % of the enterprises in the European Union are SMEs, and that they combined employ almost two third of the working force, business model innovation tooling is just as relevant in its link with SMEs as in its link with large corporations. Secondly, tooling has rarely been tested by independent researchers. As a consequence, it is unknown how business model innovation tooling, designed for SMEs, is used in a natural setting without direct involvement of the developer. Moreover, it is known that the BMI literature stream emerged from e-businesses. Therefore, it is argued that BMI literature, and consequently BMI tooling, is better applicable to companies from that sector.
The purpose of this study is to test business model innovation tooling with SMEs, without direct involvement of the original developers. In addition, cases are selected from two dissimilar sectors: e-business and non e-business.
To materialize this research, the business model stress test tool is chosen. This tool allows businesses to assess the robustness of their business model, under influence of certain future trends. Results from using the tool are insights in vulnerable business model components, and actions aimed at increasing the robustness. In this context, robustness is defined as the long-term feasibility and viability of the business model.
Based on the literature, it is expected that tooling in general leads to business model experiments. These experiments in turn allow for new insights in the robustness of a business model to be generated. Eventually, those insights are turned into actions, that are aimed at improving the business model robustness. On the long term, actions should be successful in the realization of this goal. Also, barriers are identified in the literature, which could hamper the juncture of the identified steps. Barriers lie outside of the influence of the researcher and include market uncertainty, entrenching, reluctance to change, dominant logic, cognitive capability, bounded rationality, company leadership, etc.
Research design
The stress test tooling has been developed, and is later tested under guidance of one of the developers. Now, this tool is ready for testing by an individual researcher. The research questions questioned in this study is How does the business model stress test contribute to improving the robustness of a business model? This question refers to both if and how the tooling results in an improved robustness.
To answer this research question, a qualitative multiple case design is chosen, which follows a combination of actions design research principles, and a traditional case study approach. The stress test is used in a workshop setting with four different case companies from both the marine (as a representation of non e-businesses) and ICT industry (as a representation of e-businesses).
Workshops are facilitated by experienced creative facilitators, and took place at an external location. Participants included a group of 3 – 6 employees of the case company, with varying backgrounds. During the workshop, instructions of the stress test itself as designed by the developers are followed. However, for the purpose of this research some intermediate steps were added.
During the workshops, the research observed the group and took notes. Apart from the observations, data was also obtained from the results of the workshop, sound recordings of the evaluation afterwards, and two questionnaires that were held with the participants both before and after the workshop.
Findings
Major findings of this study include that business model innovation tooling indeed leads to thought experiments, which in turn results in insights, which results in actions to improve robustness. If eventually the robustness of the company increases cannot be concluded based on this research. A longitudinal study should be held to further investigate the long-term results of this tooling.
During the workshops, the following barriers were found to be present: bounded rationality, cognitive capability, company leadership, dominant logic, organizational culture, and entrenchment. Also, disturbing factors were identified, which include: the role of the researcher and the creative facilitator, focus and involvement of the participants, group composition, incorrect use of the tooling, and the inability of participants to express their opinion. Within the results of the tested hypothesis, and the identified barriers and disturbing factors, no differences were found between e-businesses and non e-businesses.
Based on this research, many recommendations are given on how to improve the business model stress test. Apart from that, also general recommendations are given for designers of tooling. It was concluded that guidance is an important driver of results when using tooling. Guiding of both an experience facilitator and guiding questions are very important to establish the goal of the tooling.
Practical Implications
In this instance, it was observed that the stress test allows manager of technology to be aware of technological trends, before it’s too late. This tool, but also tooling in general allows for a structured process through which insights at various levels of the company can be gained. In that sense, it can be put to work to increase internal support for changing and adapting business model in a dynamic and competitive environment.
Originality and Value
The novelty of the study lies in the testing of BM tooling in a real-life setting without the involvement of the developer of the tooling. Based on the literature it was found that this is hardly done to date.
The thesis starts with a literature study on eight business process improvement methodologies (BPIs), viz. Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, Lean MRO, Total Productive Maintenance, Business Process Reengineering, and Business Process Improvement. These BPIs are compared with each other in an overview based on nine characteristics. Then, a ninth BPI is studied: process mining. The literature on this topic is scattered, but a study is conducted on several element. After that, pros and cons are discussed and process mining is placed in the overview of BPIs.
A combination of desk and field research leads to the improvement of the best practise methodology PM2. And this improved methodology, called PM3, is further within MoD. Next to that, a process mining decision framework is developed according to the waterfall model. This framework can score business process models on several characteristics. The resulting total score determines whether process mining can successfully be applied to improve the process.
For MoD, process mining can be a valuable instrument for improving processes. It can convert a gut feeling into clear numbers and models, which can form the start of an improvement project. It is thus recommended to make process mining available to the organisation.
The thesis gives a good insight in the possibilities of process mining, but it also comes with several opportunities for future research. For example, PM3 has demonstrated itself in the field, but this have not yet led to measurable improvements (only important insights in the processes). Future research is required to verify its true potential. Second, the decision framework is tested by assessing fourteen of MoD’s processes and evaluated by discussion it with ten system experts. Yet again, empirical research is probably the only way to truly verify it, but this was not possible during the thesis. Third, both PM3 and the decision framework focus on MRO within MoD. It is unlikely that a change of domain or organisation makes a significant difference, but the possibility should be taken into account and further investigated. And finally, a significant limitation of the framework is that it only scores on process mining. So, if it presents a very low score, it does not suggest an alternative BPI. This fell outside the scope of the thesis, but is nevertheless an interesting research opportunity.
Nowadays, the rising penetration of smartphones andthe important roles of them in people’sdaily life make the smartphones an ideal medium to conduct paymenttransactions. The smartphones are capable tostore everything that would normally be carried in a physical wallet andalso allows the users to make payments anytime and anywhere. The potentialadded-values of mobile payments, such as generating new revenues, obtaining newusers, increasing user stickiness attracted different players to expand theirbusinesses to the mobile payment services, including financial institutions,mobile network operators, mobile device manufacturers, trusted third partyproviders. To compete in the market, they explored differenttechnologies and business models which resulted in the complexity and dynamicsof the mobile payment market. Consequently, mobile payments have only become astandard practice in a few countries. In termsof proximity payments, NFC is widelyviewed as one of the most promising technologiesdue to its security features, compatibility with the existing financialinfrastructures, and ease of use. In the Chinese market, compared with QR code,NFC was first introduced and supported by various players. However, the Chinesemobile proximity payment market has become the largest and fastest-growingmobile proximity payment market in the world in few years by utilising QR code.The market is highly concentrated withAlipay and Tenpay which are QR code-based mobile payment platforms. In otherwords, QR code overtook NFC and became the most popular mobile proximitypayment technology in China.
Considering this phenomenon, the main researchquestion in this study is set as""why did QR code-based mobile payments overtake NFC and achieve a dominantposition in the Chinese market?"". In orderto answer this question, the research work is conducted in three steps.Firstly, a historical review of the Chinese mobile proximity payments isperformed to identify the mainstream mobile proximity payment solutions basedon QR code and NFC technologies and corresponding business models adopted inthe Chinese market. Secondly, a desk research is conducted to determine thebarriers that mobile payment providers and users face towards to QR code andNFC-based mobile payment solutions using a multi-perspectiveframework. To obtain the situation in the Chinese market and also triangulatethe results of the desk research, in-depth interviews are conducted with technical experts and manager from the Chinesemobile payment industry. Lastly, a proposed research model is used to analysethe strategic actions of the mobile payment providers who support differenttechnological solutions, how they develop the mobile payment platforms andfacilitate users’ adoption of their mobile proximity payment services in theChinese market.
In this study, the research model is developed basedon relevant business model, platform andbusiness ecosystem theories. The final research model consists of three connectedperspectives which are platform technology, platform ecosystems and platformservices. It is applied to three Chinesemobile payment platforms, namely, He Wallet, Alipay and QuickPass which have implemented one or several technologicalsolutions based on NFC and QR code technologies. The data for the casestudies is collected from thesemi-structured interviews and the desk research. The results showed that althoughNFC technology was adopted first in the Chinese market, the enablingdevices of both consumers and merchants were not widely ready at that time forNFC technology, but good enough for QR code technology. However, the early NFCadopters (both MNOs and financial institutions) were reluctant to make a huge investment inthe enabling devices to realise the large-scale deployment in the early stagedue to the uncertainties on the technology level and the unclear roles andbenefits on the business aspect. Thereby, they missed the best time to captureuser and develop users' habit. In contrast, Alipay strategically adopted the independent service provider mode to leverage its obtained platformresources and capabilities whichsignificantly contributed the mass adoption of QR code in the Chinese market. DespiteQR code currently dominated the Chinese mobile payment market, it is believedthat NFC has its place in the Chinese mobile payment market as China UnionPayadopted an open platform strategy to incorporateall relevant players into its ecosystemto facilitate the development of NFC-based mobile payments.
The research results in this study are not onlybeneficial to the theoretical research in mobile payments but also useful forthe practical development of mobile payments. From the theoretical perspective,this research provides a comprehensive overview of the characteristics andpotential barriers of four technologicalsolutions based on NFC and QR code technologies. Besides, it developed aresearch model which can be used to interpret the status of a mobile paymentplatform. From practical perspective, itprovides some insights to the mobile payment providers in terms of the technology selection, the design of the businessmodel, the service development and the marketing strategies.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:bc8bc1f9-993f-4146-9e22-6d2b8a762c1a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bc8bc1f9-993f-4146-9e22-6d2b8a762c1a","The Influence of Team-Technology Satisfaction on the Quality of Human Generated Data: A Case Study at Royal Vopak","Kersten, Joris (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Rook, L. (mentor); de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Brand, Leo (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","In the light of the fourth industrial revolution, referred to as Industry 4.0, big data is becoming the key resource of modern companies. In order to safely harvest the potential benefits of the Industry 4.0, a high level of data quality is essential. Yet, modern companies experience poor data quality levels, mainly in human generated datasets. To improve human generated data quality, the IT usage behaviour should be studied. This research investigated the influence of team-technology acceptance and satisfaction on human generated data quality. The research was conducted at Royal Vopak and studied the data from the Decision Support System: INFOR. The study followed a multimethod comparative field study design, in which interviews combined with a literature review provided input and practical validation for a survey and a data quality assessment. The Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) regression was conducted to investigate the relation between TAM variables and data quality of the Decision Support System (DSS). Results confirmed that the perceptions of riskiness, ambiguity had effect on data quality levels. Also, evidence for the influence of perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use on overall satisfaction was found. Future research should use these results in developing training and development programs to improve team-technology interaction and data quality levels.
In order stimulate the incorporation of values into smart grid components, this research has the objective “to provide input for the design for values in smart grid components by uncovering stakeholder interpretations of the values that are at stake for smart grid components”. The values that are affected by smart grid components are identified where after value descriptions and stakeholder interpretations of the values at stake are analysed to understand these values and their background. The perspective of two of the most important stakeholders – production chain organizations and end-users – is highlighted. Values are differentiated per smart grid component, stakeholder category, distinguished into supporting- or final values, and (potential) inter-value or intra-value conflicts are identified. This provides input to answer the main research question: “Which values are at stake for smart grid components according to academic literature, how are these values interpreted by Dutch stakeholders according to national newspapers and how are these values related?”.
After gaining a theoretical background regarding values in ethics of technology and smart grid components, an initial list of values, including their conceptualizations, is created. This has served as input for a literature review and content analysis which are done to identify and analyse values within smart grid components literature and within The Netherlands. The initial list of values is based on values that are often mentioned in value sensitive design literature. The literature review is done on academic literature articles that pay attention to the acceptance and acceptability of smart grid components and showed which values out of the initial list are actually affected by smart grid components and whether new values emerged. In total, twenty-five literature articles are reviewed and value-laden perceptions, barriers, motivators or factors for acceptance are uncovered, causing the initial list of values to be enriched with new values. In order to uncover stakeholder interpretations of the values at stake within The Netherlands, 56 Dutch newspaper articles have been analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Value-laden statements and citations are distracted, recorded and coded into values while using the list of values, their conceptualizations and coding principles that have been set in the methodology chapter. A distinction has been made between positive, negative or ambiguous attitudinal directions in which stakeholders have expressed value-laden statements towards smart grid components. Values are coded in a positive attitudinal direction when they are being enhanced or the stakeholder is in favour of using a smart grid component according to how the statement is being presented or cited. On the other hand, values are coded in a negative attitudinal direction when they are being hindered or the stakeholder is against the use of a smart grid component according to how the statement is being presented or cited. This provides insights on how these values are supported or hindered from the perspective of different stakeholders.
Within the literature review and content analysis results, values are differentiated per smart grid component, stakeholder category, and attitudinal direction. Barriers, motivator, factors or values-laden statements are explained in order to understand value descriptions and stakeholder interpretations. The literature review has shown that values are primarily expressed in a negative attitudinal direction within academic articles, meaning they are related to concerns based on values that are causing barriers for the design, development, and acceptance of smart grid components. This means that the majority of the values are being hindered due to the implementation of smart grid technologies, taking into account that the academic literature is merely representing the perspective of end-users. Values that have been most frequently recorded out the academic literature are economic development, privacy, autonomy, trust, environmental sustainability, and information cyber security. The content analysis does not only represent Dutch end-users but also stakeholders out of the production chain, research and consultancy, policy-maker and regulators, and the media, which can be considered as a stakeholder itself. Therefore, the values that are identified during the content analysis appeared to be more ambiguous, since both pros and cons were discussed and more stakeholder perspectives are represented within the newspaper articles. This means that for individual values, often, value-laden statements or interpretations are expressed in both positive and negative attitudinal directions, meaning values are supported or hindered depending on the stakeholder perspective that is taken. In general, production chain organizations report on values in a more positive attitudinal direction and end-users in a more negative attitudinal direction. Values that have been recorded most frequent within the content analysis are economic development, environmental sustainability, transparency, privacy, information cyber security, autonomy, and distributive justice. The academic literature includes the values security of supply, universal usability, and safety and health which are not mentioned in Dutch newspapers (yet), while the value of flexibility is mentioned in newspaper articles but not within the literature. This suggest that no events, incidents, or upfront concerns occurred or have been raised within The Netherlands concerning security of supply, universal usability, and safety and health. However, these values might become relevant in the nearby future within The Netherlands as well. Therefore, all values out of the literature review and content analysis are combined in order to identify supporting relationships or (potential) values conflicts.
Using the literature review and content analysis results, a network of related values is mapped that is based on overlapping value descriptions, stakeholder interpretations and interpretations of the results. The purpose of this network is to provide an overall overview of which values are connected through which descriptions or interpretations and it has helped to analyse the nature of some relationships after zooming in on these value connections. Depending on the stakeholder perspective that is being taken, final values have various supporting values, which are depicted in separated figures. The production chain and end-users are represented best within the content analysis and the most frequently mentioned final values include: economic development, environmental sustainability, reliability, privacy, distributive justice and security of supply. Three inter-value conflicts have been identified between: transparency and information cyber security, transparency and privacy, and economic development and autarky. Potential intra-value conflicts are identified based on controversies and concerns stated in the Dutch newspapers regarding the values of distributive justice, autonomy, privacy, and information cyber security. Since supporting relationships and value conflicts depend on the stakeholder perspective that is being taken, the overall network of related values can be used in future research and practical implications to identify more supporting and conflicting relationships from the perspective of other stakeholders, who may have different thoughts on which values are considered to be important or when new stakeholder interpretation for the values at stake arise. This research contributes in shaping design for values within the energy domain as well as delivering a method to map related values by means of overlapping descriptions and interpretations and to analyse the nature of these relationships thereafter. Stakeholders, especially policy-makers and production chain organizations are recommended to use this knowledge in the design- and governance of smart grid components in order to enhance the acceptance, implementation and deployment of smart grids and their components.","Values; Smart grid; Energy; Design for values","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:c558efd2-692e-4b2e-9933-4cc248ccd4b1","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c558efd2-692e-4b2e-9933-4cc248ccd4b1","Privacy in Financial Innovation: a Value Sensitive Design for PSD2","van der Heijden, Jaimy (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Santoni De Sio, Filippo (mentor); Roosenboom-Kwee, Zenlin (mentor); van den Hoven, Jeroen (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","The European Commission introduced PSD2 with the purpose to promote innovation by increasing competition and participation of non-banks in the payments industry. Amongst others, PSD2 requires banks to allow a way for third-party providers to have direct access to a current account’s data if authorized by the customer. This forces banks to open up their databases which calls into life a particular stream of questions about how technologies should be designed in order to preserve privacy. Therefore this research was dedicated to designing a framework of general principles for the inclusion of privacy in innovation within the financial industry, in particular for the incumbent bank.
The Value Sensitive Design approach was utilized in order to provide this framework through a qualitative explorative case study. In the conceptualization stage of VSD, privacy was defined through a literature review. For the empirical investigation, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with eleven experts from three of the four types of stakeholders. Values that were identified in literature were qualitatively validated by scoring their importance relative to each other. For the technical investigation, the most important values were translated into design requirements by utilizing the value hierarchy method. The application of VSD to innovation in finance is the theoretical contribution of this research.
Privacy was conceptualized as complex and interrelated with other values. Values related to privacy in the case of PSD2 were also identified in several literature streams. Through a qualitative validation, the final set of values to be reflected by technology designed after PSD2 was determined which shows that privacy is the value of greatest importance to be included in financial innovation. Also, based on the insights experts brought forward during the interviews, five ethical challenges that come with the implementation of PSD2 were identified. The applicability of the value hierarchy method was demonstrated by translating the value privacy into six design requirements. These six design requirements addressed the end-user’s ability to make an informed decision for consent, ex-ante privacy assessment through standardized licensing procedures and a shared license database, the possibility for end-users to manage information disclosed through APIs and the limitation of information referring to transaction’s counterpart that did not consent.","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2019-08-23","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b08ae462-53f2-4a52-b8aa-1ab7166852bb","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b08ae462-53f2-4a52-b8aa-1ab7166852bb","Implementation of Circular Business Models in Firms: Prospects and Barriers","Cha, Yewon (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Verburg, R.M. (mentor); Quist, J.N. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","The appearance of circular economy has been raised as a solution to rapidly diminishing resources and waste issues that constant economic growth entail. The transition from the current linear economy in which we take, make, use, and dispose of resources to a circular economy in which waste becomes raw material is expected to close material loop. To advance the era of the circular economy and foster the participation of companies, understanding circular business models is essential.
This research studied three cases of circular business models (CBMs). The companies that use resource-based CBMs and bulk waste and deal with business customers were selected. Black Bear Carbon generates carbon black from end-of-life tires, DSM NIAGA provides carpet machines and adhesive that enables the production of 100% recyclable carpet, and Van Houtum generates toilet paper from used paper.
The findings of this research are threefold: (1) the concept of upcycling is one of the elements that defines a CBM, (2) the most critical factor for the success of CBM is a circular value network, (3) the business modelling tools for CBMs should emphasize the element of circular values. This brings the theoretical contributions to the definition of CBM and developments of the business modelling tools for CBMs. The practical contributions are made to the firms who are considering implementing a CBM as a reference book. Lastly, policy makers can use this research as a guideline on the revision or reformation of the waste policy and legislation.
This research focused on exploring the potential of the blockchain technology for business model innovation with the use of business model patterns as a theoretical construct. From the scientific perspective, research contributed to a better understanding of the role of business model patterns as a construct with multipurpose character. The construct was used in a role of classification device to gain an understanding over the technology associated business model logics and in a role of instruments of scientific inquiry to explore potential technology implications. A two-way relationship between the disruptive technology and business models was considered. As a result, tokenization was proposed as a new business model pattern, specific to the blockchain technology. Moreover, value patterns (patient empowerment, privacy by design, security by design, transparency by design) were recognized as an important matter that is potentially impacting future business models. In the second step, business model patterns were evaluated in the context of e-Health industry specific moderators. A Discussion with the implication of the technology from the business model innovation perspective was provided.
But what causes these inadequate results? The literature implies that, along the process of ITS-projects, a number of challenging issues tend to surface. Policymakers seemingly do not know how to cope with these issues. Examples of these issues are amongst others: (1) uncertainty about the technological performance of the system, (2) an unclear vision of the potential of the system in the market, and (3) potential hurdles in the collaboration process between relevant project stakeholders.
These indications show that ITS projects are subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty. More knowledge about uncertainties looming up during ITS projects, and information of adequate reactions for policymakers on this phenomenon can be of great help to produce more satisfactory project results. Hence, this thesis explores the different types of uncertainties and subsequently aims in providing insights in how policymakers can cope more effectively with these different types of uncertainties.
This thesis starts with the examination of three correlated factors, namely 1) the number and types of uncertainties emerging in ITS projects, 2) the extent of awareness of policymakers on these uncertainties, and 3) the way policymakers tend to act in the face of uncertainties.
By means of three ex-post case studies, insights were obtained on these factors. After analysing these three cases, thirteen different uncertainties were identified and distinguished. The policymakers in these ITS-projects were only partly aware of those uncertainties. I analysed five situations of uncertainty ‘unawareness’. From those five ‘unawareness’ factors, four had an impact on the outcome of the project. This emphasizes the importance of awareness among policymakers of the different types of uncertainty.
In addition, based on policy guidelines supplied by the literature, I evaluated the way policymakers acted when coming across uncertainties. This evaluation showed that policymakers didn’t follow adequate strategies to cope with the different values of uncertainties. Even worse, more than once uncertainties were deliberately ignored. Policymakers tend not to know how to deal with uncertainties in ITS projects and to ignore them.
When policymakers do not ignore uncertainties, they tend to follow strategies and policies that are inadequate to cope with the different types of uncertainties. When comparing the findings of these three case studies with the suggestions made by the literature, we deduce that there is a lack of knowledge on ITS-project policymakers can act effectively when coming across uncertainties. My case studies support the suggestions of the literature that policymakers do not know how to cope effectively with uncertainties in ITS projects.
The conclusion of this thesis entails, that knowledge and awareness amongst ITS policymakers of the different uncertainties would be a first step in the direction towards more robust policymaking. In addition, policymakers should adopt more active strategies in anticipation of the different types of uncertainties. When coming across an uncertainty during the project, the selection of an appropriate strategy should be based on the type, and the extent of complexity within the uncertainty. The same accounts for policies. Based on a theoretical framework of uncertainties, policymakers should adopt a more appropriate policy in order to cope with them.
However, current conceptions of responsible innovation suffer from a failure to take a quantitative assessment into account. Regrettably, this failure becomes a shortcoming of current rationale in the responsible innovation arena. Of particular concern is the absence of a scale to measure a level of individual behavior in regards to the responsible innovation concept, namely a responsible innovation scale. At this moment, this scale is arguably a necessity in the business context because it allows the innovators to measure how responsible they are while undertaking their jobs.
In order to develop such a scale, a survey was firstly administered to 244 respondents. Subsequently, the response was examined using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Stability of factor structure that was derived from EFA was then assessed using coefficient comparability in a large amount of random half sample. The most stable factor structure was subsequently validated using multiple statistical analytic methods. The finding showed that such measurement tool can be operationalized using eight questions. Finally, study limitations and fruitful future studies were offered to improve the scale in certain contexts.
Keyword: responsibility, innovation, responsible innovation, responsible innovation scale, business, individual behavior, factor analysis","responsibility; innovation; responsible innovation; responsible innovation scale; business; individual behavior; factor analysis","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:799677ac-d8c9-408f-94e7-f0f4d393c51d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:799677ac-d8c9-408f-94e7-f0f4d393c51d","Asymmetric Joint Ventures: The effect of opportunism and trust on the performance of asymmetric joint ventures","de Koning, Thom (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Scholten, V.E. (mentor); van Beers, Cees (mentor); de Vries, G. (mentor); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Worldwide, organisations are establishing joint ventures to overcome market trends and size-specific challenges. Smaller sized organisations lack financial resources to introduce their innovation to the market, while larger sized organisations trouble with renewing their core business models. Consequently, more and more joint ventures are established between dissimilar sized organisations to combine resources and knowledge. However, these asymmetric joint ventures are subject to specific opportunistic behaviour which is promoted by a power imbalance between the partners.
Opportunistic behaviour may harm the performance of a joint venture and may even jeopardise the survivability of an organisation. In an asymmetric joint venture it is likely that the larger sized organisation will accumulate the majority of bargaining power by which the smaller sized organisation is put at risk. Therefore this research is conducted to assess how opportunistic behaviour emerges through a power imbalance. And eventually how this affects the overall performance of an asymmetric joint venture. Next, it is expected that when opportunistic behaviour emerges, that it will decrease cooperative behaviour and thus will affect the trust between the partners.
Data was retrieved by combining the SDC Platinum alliance database with the Orbis financial database to identify asymmetric joint ventures which have been established worldwide in the last ten years. From these asymmetric joint ventures, only the joint ventures operating in the manufacturing division were contacted, because these are characterised by product innovations to stay competitive. By doing several internet searches per asymmetric joint venture, contact information could be retrieved of executives knowledgeable of these joint ventures. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data about the asymmetric joint ventures. In total 77 completed surveys were collected.
The results of this research show that the amount of financial resources and expertise brought to the joint venture will determine the bargaining power of each partner. The majority of bargaining power is in most cases accumulated by the larger partner and is based on the financial investments made to the joint venture. The powerful party may use its bargaining power to alter the strategic direction of the joint venture in her favour, as bargaining power was found to be negatively correlated with goal congruence. Next, the relationship between goal congruence and joint venture performance was found to be fully mediated by trust. This suggests that opportunistic behaviour needs time to get recognised by the disadvantaged partner since it is disguised.
Despite the fact that roughly 70% of the joint ventures worldwide were found to be asymmetric and achieve less performance than symmetric alliances, the current literature is barely addressing the characteristics that influence the performance of asymmetric joint ventures. This research, however, addressed some of these characteristics by examining the relationship between power imbalance and opportunistic behaviour in asymmetric joint ventures.
The practical relevance of this study is that the bargaining power of the larger partner may be limited by the smaller partner by significantly contributing in expertise to the joint venture. Next, smaller partners should be aware of different sized absorptive capacities, through which the larger partner may outlearn them and identify private opportunities that may promote opportunistic behaviour. Lastly, this research showed that trust is a critical factor in achieving high performance in asymmetric joint ventures. However, building a relationship in an asymmetric setting might be a challenging task due to the unfamiliarity between the dissimilar sized organisations.
These trends rise several complications, due to the various challenges that innovation-oriented inter-firm collaborations imply from a managerial perspective. Specifically, it has been argued that inter-firm alignment is a fundamental element to successfully initiate IT innovation partnerships. However, little guidance is available concerning the management of the first phases of such collaborations.
To address this problem, this study explores the vendor-client relationship from three different but complementary perspectives (e.g., organizational, contractual and social), which have been identified as the main dimensions to be considered in the study of inter-firm collaborations and whose alignment between firm is necessary to build successful innovation partnerships. As such, this research proposes a conceptual model where the organizational, social and contractual dimensions represent the independent variables and where inter-firm alignment represents the dependent variable. Furthermore, our model incorporates two additional elements, namely vendor size and relationship age, which represent the moderator variables and influence the abovementioned relationship.
This qualitative study has been carried out in the working setting of AirFrance-KLM Group, a world leader in the airline service industry. Through the analysis on embedded case study consisting of three study cases, it has been possible to capture the three different facets of vendor-client collaborations and identify those elements and conditions critical to achieve inter-firm alignment during the formation of innovation partnerships with strategic IT vendors.
The findings of this research suggest that while all three dimensions need to be addressed during the initial phases of a strategic partnership oriented to innovation activities, the interrelations between social and contractual dimensions and between social and organizational dimensions required a more careful consideration. In regards to the intertwine between social and contractual dimensions, the results indicate that during the early stage of a joint innovation project in the IT environment, a governance based on relational and behavioural elements tends to substitute formal governance, due to a fluidity of goals, requirements and expectations. In regards to the linkages between organizational and social elements, the findings suggest that shared and well-defined organizational practises are critical to foster inter-firm social interactions and support the development of trust and commitment. Interpersonal exchange and mutual understanding are likely to increase when the governance of the collaboration is less centralized and formalized, as well as when more autonomy is given to its members and an integrative work structure exists.
Drawn from the analysis of the moderator variables, Vendor Size turned out to have a great influence in achieving inter-firm alignment. Difference sizes represented an important element that had to be taken into account in aligning the various facets of the collaboration. A smaller vendor requires less effort in building a positive social context, as well as in achieving organizational coordination. On the other hand, it requires more resources to assess its real long-term value and contribution. A larger vendor is characterized by more layered and complex structures, and thus necessitates higher efforts to align processes and actions. However, it also provides a larger sets of skills and capabilities, as well as more industry knowledge and experienced people. In regards to the second moderator, Relationship Age greatly influenced the causal relationship: a longer relationship allowed to avoid complex contractual agreements. On the other hand, a lack of previous joint experience necessitated a higher initial efforts to build trust and assess each other commitment. Conversely, the findings suggest also that long-lasting business relations do not necessarily support initial inter-firm alignment in innovative vendor-client collaborations. Specifically, the study cases provide evidence that also the type of content exchange and the focus of previous business relations may also represent another moderating factor in achieving inter-firm alignment.
Furthermore, this Thesis provides a set of actions to be undertaken to achieve inter-firm alignment by covering the three different dimensions of vendor-client collaborations.
Follow-up research could further support the findings through more quantitative approaches, as well as provide additional insights on the dyad relational and contractual governance, as well as on those organizational factors and practises that enhance the relational and social elements necessary to foster inter-firm alignment.
Key words: IT Service Industry, Open Innovation, IT Relationship Management, IT Collaborations, Airline Service Industry, AirFrance-KLM","","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:ce37e094-cf9e-4976-afde-2e0ecdf8880a","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ce37e094-cf9e-4976-afde-2e0ecdf8880a","Blockchain Technology in the Energy Ecosystem: An explorative study on the disruptive power of blockchain technology in the Dutch energy Ecosystem","Voets, Amber (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","de Reuver, G.A. (mentor); Chappin, E.J.L. (graduation committee); van Rossum, F.M. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Today’s energy system has originally been developed based on central energy production and a passive consumer, whose interests have to be represented by the energy suppliers and distribution system operators. However, the industry is quickly changing. The share of renewable energy is growing, and consumers are increasingly involved in the production of energy. As a result, the share of intermittent energy sources increases and so does the need for flexibility in the energy industry. Therefore, it is questioned whether the current system in the energy industry still fits with today’s developments.
To allow for flexible demand and supply of energy, digital technology for communication between computers or devices and electricity providers and consumers will become necessary. This will help to balance production and consumption at each time resolution, without high costs and unnecessary bothering of consumers. Blockchain is a technology that could potentially serve as a solution for a new energy industry system. Blockchain enables direct and reliable transactions of assets, between every party willing to do so, without the need for an intermediary or central party in control...","Blockchain technology; Business ecosystems; Energy industry; Scenario planning","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:b1de98dd-f1a7-456a-b8cb-4d87dc2c4f9f","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b1de98dd-f1a7-456a-b8cb-4d87dc2c4f9f","An explorative study on blockchain technology in application to port logistics","Francisconi, Mattia (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Maknoon, M.Y. (mentor); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Tavasszy, Lorant (graduation committee); Baaijen, Dirk (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Over eight years from its conception, Blockchain is considered as a ground-breaking innovation in information technology. The technology’s promises of complete disintermediation and enhanced process visibility turned supply chain and logistics into a fertile ground for a blockchain potential implementation. Despite these high expectations, both practitioners and researchers still struggle in identifying the blockchain real benefits to the industry. Moreover, the several private projects and start-ups offering blockchain solutions, which are blossoming in the logistics environment, are threatening the role of the Port of Rotterdam and Portbase as the port inter-organizational information system. Commissioned by Smartport, this research aims to identify the potential blockchain uses on port logistics as well as their relative impact. Therefore, the functionality offered by the current market applications are categorized into four business cases, which identify different uses of the blockchain. These blockchain business cases are subsequently analyzed under six different points of view in order to evaluate the expected benefit that the major stakeholder expect to gain from the technology implementation. Finally, the impact of these business cases is tested on the business model components of the current port information system, Portbase, to identify the disruptive power of the technology. To face the potential issue of disintermediation; a set of solutions have been developed for Portbase on how to adapt its business model in case of a blockchain implementation. This strong conceptualization of the blockchain technology helps the main logistic stakeholders to understand and discuss the potential application of blockchain technology on port logistics, and it provides a much-needed basis for further scientific research. Further development of this conceptualization is needed to structure the ongoing blockchain discussions in both scientific literature and practice.","Blockchain; Port Logistics; Inter-organizational Information system; IT solutions for logistics; Reintermediation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","51.875014, 4.404611"
"uuid:ae30daf6-5329-4273-8caf-e42dfde40db5","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ae30daf6-5329-4273-8caf-e42dfde40db5","Assessing Influencing Factors During Diffusion of a Radical Innovation: A Case Study in Urban Farming The Netherlands","Stephanie Kartika Lestari, Stephanie (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Values Technology and Innovation)","Ortt, J.R. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (graduation committee); van Beers, Cees (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Niche markets are essential for commercialization of radical new innovations. In a niche market, the innovation is protected while gaining maturity till finally being able to compete with the incumbent technology in the mass market. Along the way towards large-scale diffusion, firms can apply niche strategies as a deliberate and temporary choice to cope with internal and/or external factors that have become barriers hampering diffusion. Although it seems clear that certain barriers can be overcome by certain niche strategies, a clear means of assessing technology diffusion in view of those factors such to be able to identify circumstances that allow/require to adopt another niche strategy to continue to diffuse, remains underexplored. Accordingly, this research defines a set of indicators to assess contextual and contemporary factors potentially hampering diffusion of a radical innovation throughout the diffusion period. This set of indicators can then function as a trigger for commercial firms to rationally revisit their niche strategies according to the ever-changing internal/external environment during the often erratic path of technology diffusion, such to pursue large-scale diffusion. A case study will be conducted by analysing two urban farming organizations in the Netherlands, with urban farming being a yet-to-diffuse radical innovation aiming for fresh and sustainable food supply in urban areas. A non-static conceptual model and method of use are constituted that includes factors, indicators and triggers to rationally assess the business environment on diffusion hampering factors/barriers, and to select niche strategies accordingly.
Airlines have a strong drive for innovation as there is a high risk of commoditization and new entrants. Mainly low cost carriers are an acute driver for process optimization and operational innovations. Additionally, the airline industry has a risk averse culture that comes with regulation which causes unavoidable innovation constraints. Current designated innovation methods of forming alliances, scaling up and setting up a low cost branch, routinely only improve the service that airlines provide instead of extending their core service model. The airline sector is in need of organizational renewal to discover and develop new revenue streams, improve their operational excellence and enhance their customer experience. With exemption of the core competences, airlines currently do not have the required knowledge to innovate internally and therefore look for solutions externally.
This thesis focuses on the opportunity that external corporate venturing provides in solving this challenge. External Venturing (EV) is the direct cooperation of large corporations with external start-ups, or indirect cooperation with start-ups through a corporate venture investment fund. A literature research, desk research and qualitative case study have examined the possibilities that EV provides as new innovation strategy for airlines. A strategic decision framework has been developed in this thesis as tool for carriers to implement an EV approach.
The interviews conducted with airlines and the corporate venture partners have shown that the dominant motive for airlines to pursue EV is to obtain access to new products, services, markets and technologies. This in order for them to attain new revenue streams and new business opportunities. These elements provide the airline with new ways to enhance customer experience, digitalize the airline and to cut costs. Secondly, EV can be used as strategy to be able to harvest the innovation potential of start-ups by acquiring their knowledge. Both are short term motives, which are the base for the long term motives for EV; competitive advantage, strategic renewal and profitability. EV can strengthen competitive advantage by providing differentiation and can be used as a vehicle to continuously update the strategy. Although profitability is important for the viability of corporate venturing inspired projects, this is not a direct motive for EV as it is only measured in the longer term. The need of airlines for new tacit and explicit knowledge as input for their innovation is more acute than the focus on EV as a generator of future profitability.
The external factors that affect an airline’s motive are macro-economic turbulence, micro-economic turbulence, regulation and geopolitical turbulence and are considered industry factors. As those factors are to a large extent global they are shared by most competing airlines and do not provide distinguishing factors between airlines that pursue EV.
During the interviews also the internal factors that drive the success of external venturing were discussed. It turns out that top management support is the most dominant internal factor to influence the performance of EV for airlines. Top management is in a position to allocate the required resources to the external venturing process and to force adoption of start-up driven innovations onto the company. However, internal organizational turbulence can still dictate that EV initiatives are not accepted in the business units regardless of top management support. Furthermore, a set of clear, pre-defined objectives is a significant internal success factor. The objectives determine the ability to attract and select the right EV investments but also to use EV output to commercial ends in the often independently operating business units within airlines. Again, the internal organizational turbulence dictates how many venturing propositions can make it to commercialization. Additionally, the complementary characteristics of the start-up and parent company prescribes in which ways the parent company and start-up are able to learn from each other. Hence, a match should be found between the strategy of the start-up and the airline for them to be able to consume the EV technologies appropriately.
An element that was brought up by most interviewees, and recognized by all, was the (lack of) organizational readiness; the present workforce might not be open to EV driven startup projects. This can be caused by a perceived threat to the continuity of their business or they might not believe in the long term gains of EV. Interviewees believe that top management should communicate a set of tailored objectives to accompany the EV endeavours. The objectives should explain the importance of EV and the expected results to contribute to a culture that stimulates EV and its start-up projects. Also, creating a safe testing environment where start-ups can validate their propositions inside the airline organization can contribute to EV effectiveness.
Based on this thesis it is recommended for airlines to keep in mind the above mentioned factors to optimize their EV results. Summarizing; to enhance EV performance top management needs to support the EV endeavours with means and a set of tailored objectives. Top management should also be mindful that the organization has to be ready, both culturally and in their abilities, to create an organization that is able to use EV output to commercial ends. Furthermore a detailed sourcing, selection, support and EV development process should be in place. When such processes are available, criteria to measure external venturing performance are dealflow (number of start-ups the airline gets in touch with), number of relevant investments, number of financial exits, return on investment and number of commercial roll-outs after an investment.
For airlines that want to pursue EV a limited set of cooperation options is available. If an airline is looking for extensive strategic renewal, a dedicated airline venture capital fund which is a fully owned subsidiary of the airline should be set up. If an airline has a more modest objective of using EV for driving innovation and the influx of knowledge and ideas, it can become a partner in a venture capital fund. A third, least committed option, is to join an accelerator or incubator program where influence and participation with startups is more limited. The above findings come together in the strategic decision framework which gives airlines the knowledge to establish a strong external venturing foundation with features wherefrom the whole organization can benefit","External corporate venturing for airlines","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9f66fd65-3852-40e1-afc4-6b1953732c2d","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9f66fd65-3852-40e1-afc4-6b1953732c2d","Accelerating the energy transition through corporate venturing at Dutch distribution system operators","Roorda, Folkert (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management; TU Delft Values Technology and Innovation)","van Geenhuizen, M.S. (mentor); Scholten, V.E. (graduation committee); Enserink, B. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","The main research question that this research seeks to answer is: What are the factors that are perceived to be important for the performance of venturing units at Dutch distribution network operators? Factors found in the literature that impact the performance of this venturing units can be divided into three parts: factors from an organizational perspective, factors related to the venturing unit and factors that relate to the venture itself. Interviews were conducted at the three largest DSO’s (Alliander, Enexis and Stedin) to assess whether these organizational and venturing unit related factors influence their corporate venturing performance. At four ventures (Allego, Hoom, EXE and LOCOL) that were initiated by Alliander interviews were conducted to find venturing unit related and venture related factors that are perceived to be important for the performance of venturing units from their perspective.","corporate venturing; energy transition; DSO; distributed system operators; Innovation","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:9cd1eb30-f10d-41ea-bc07-6678905f9d8e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9cd1eb30-f10d-41ea-bc07-6678905f9d8e","Is Equity Crowdfunding for you?: An assessment tool for high-tech start-up entrepreneurs & recommendations to platforms","Li, Anna (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","Roosenboom-Kwee, Z. (mentor); Oey, M.A. (graduation committee); Verburg, R.M. (graduation committee); Correljé, A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Many start-ups face difficulty raising sufficient funds at the early stage of their businesses. Traditionally, entrepreneurs raise capital from friends and family, angel investment, venture capital or bank loans. However, with the development of Internet platforms, alternative finance methods have arisen. Entrepreneurs are starting to look for financial help from crowdfunding platforms, at the same time, more people from the general public with extra money starting to invest on crowdfunding websites.
This research focuses on equity crowdfunding, an emerging entrepreneurial finance alternative. Equity crowdfunding has only existed since 2011 in Europe. There is limited research about equity crowdfunding worldwide, let alone research about crowdfunding in the Netherlands. Based on the “lemon market” theory from Akerlof (1970), information asymmetry would harm the market and lead to market shrink or even failure. This research is intended to reduce information asymmetry in equity crowdfunding ecosystem, in an aim to promote equity crowdfunding in the Netherlands.
There are two types of information asymmetry being mitigated in this research. The information asymmetry between entrepreneurs and investors can be mitigated by an assessment tool. The assessment tool was developed by first compiling 11 success factors of equity crowdfunding from 5 key literature sources. Then a selection of success factors was discussed before a draft assessment tool is developed. This draft assessment tool is validated later by entrepreneurs using a semi-structured interview approach. The assessment tool is meant for entrepreneurs in the Netherlands in the high-tech industry to pre-screen or evaluate them whether equity crowdfunding can be considered as an alternative funding during their seed-stage financing. This assessment tool can present a fast insight to show start-ups how to raise money successfully on an equity crowdfunding campaign. Hence, it helps entrepreneurs make efficient decisions whether equity crowdfunding can be considered as a source of financing. The assessment tool can also pinpoint their weaknesses if they are going to participate in an equity crowdfunding campaign. By raising the awareness of equity crowdfunding among entrepreneurs, it is possible to provide them with one more option (equity crowdfunding) in their seed-stage fundraising strategy.
The information asymmetry between entrepreneurs and platforms can be mitigated by collecting recommendations to platforms. There are two sources of recommendations. One is from entrepreneurs’ point of view by semi-structured interviews. The other one is from second hand information collected to learn from the market leader the UK.
Equity crowdfunding platforms in the UK have evolved with new operations compared to the Netherlands. One is lead investor system whereby the lead investor serves as an experienced investor who can conduct due diligence on behalf of rest of investors from the crowd, but also lead investor attracts followers to invest because of his/her reputation in the field. Under this system, the success rate of campaigns goes up to more than 72%, while platforms without lead investor mechanism is about 55%. Another trend is unified nominee structure, which is the “funds” function by Seedrs. So investors can invest to equity crowdfunding campaigns, convertible loans, or funds. In the earlier two options, investors invest under their own identity to projects, which means entrepreneurs can have hundreds of small investors that they have to manage updates with. However, in the “funds” option, investors put money into a pool under the name of Seedrs. And Seedrs invest to different projects to leverage the risks for investors, acting as a portfolio manager in traditional banking. Also, entrepreneurs do not have to worry about managing hundreds of investors. All investment is under the unified nominee structure, which is under Seedrs name. This structure provides both sides convenience. This innovative trend is definitely worth borrowing by Netherlands platforms. Also, there is a difference of operations on due diligence between the UK platforms and the Netherlands platforms. The Netherlands platform Symbid perform due diligence after the campaign target is reached and before passing to the entrepreneur. While the UK platforms perform due diligence before listing a campaign online. This measurement results a rejection rate of 72% of projects. However, investors can expect better quality projects to invest. As a result, platforms act with more reputation would attract more investors.
To summarise recommendations from entrepreneurs to platforms, they think if the speed of fundraising were faster than formal investors (VC and angels), it would be more appealing to entrepreneurs. So the platform can be attract more entrepreneurs by shortening the fundraising cycle of equity crowdfunding. Also, if the platform can enable functions of “network and knowledge” to be provided by the crowd, it would attract more entrepreneurs, because all interviewees in the research think it is very important. “Network and knowledge” are the most repeated key words when entrepreneurs answering the interview questions regarding their concerns in choosing equity crowdfunding. Not surprisingly, the most attractive part of traditional investors (VC and angels) is the value-added services. They can provide their network to boost the development of start-ups. They can also provide their knowledge or expertise in technical, managerial or strategic levels to help start-ups to expand as fast as possible. If those benefits entrepreneurs can acquire from the crowds on equity crowdfunding campaign, there will be more entrepreneurs to choose equity crowdfunding. One of the reasons why the equity crowdfunding in the UK market is much more developed than the one in the Netherlands market is that the equity crowdfunding platforms have been backed by venture capital or lead investors (angels). The collaboration between equity crowdfunding platforms and venture capital in the UK is the goal for the Netherlands to achieve. However, in the UK, there is more institutional investment money in looking for investment opportunities than the Netherlands. It might be a challenge for Netherlands equity crowdfunding platforms to seek collaboration with venture capitals, but there are advantages from government subsidies that are possible to collaborate with.
The hybrid financial instrument between equity crowdfunding and other sources is possible. Two possible applications are like this. 1) If the entrepreneur has reached the target of equity crowdfunding campaign, the government subsidy would be provided on top of the money raised on equity crowdfunding. So it doubled the investment originally it would acquire only from the crowd. 2) If the entrepreneur has reached the goal of equity crowdfunding, a bank loan under government incentives would be provided on top of this equity crowdfunding funding. In other words, entrepreneurs can exchange less equity for the same amount of money. However, on equity crowdfunding platforms, the innovative projects are limited. Future study can explore the feasibility of this suggestion. In the UK, the collaboration between VC and equity crowdfunding already exists. Venture capital start investing in start-ups via equity crowdfunding platforms. This has proved to be feasible in the UK. It can be possible in the Netherlands in the future as well, since from the regulation part, equity crowdfunding in the UK and in the Netherlands are similar.
With more actors (venture capital, angel investors, government subsidies) involved on equity crowdfunding platforms, not only the crowds, there would be a bigger cash pool to invest in campaigns. In return, it can attract more entrepreneurs to participate in equity crowdfunding platforms.
By reducing information asymmetry between the entrepreneurs and the platforms and the entrepreneurs and the investors, it would be possible to mitigate “lemon market” effect by Akerlof (1970) and lead to a more prosperous equity crowdfunding industry in the Netherlands.
Keywords: Crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing, Equity-based crowdfunding, start-ups, seed-stage financing, entrepreneurial financing, lemon market theory, information asymmetry, information cascade, herding, crowd wisdom, signalling, success factors.","Crowdfunding; equity crowdfunding; success factors; entrepreneurial financing; seed-stage financing; start-up fiancing; information asymmetry; lemon market theory; herding; crowd wisdom; information cascade; startup; high tech","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2018-01-25","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:6588e9f6-0d2a-4fb7-a34d-30b2d06bc16e","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6588e9f6-0d2a-4fb7-a34d-30b2d06bc16e","Factors affecting Standard Dominance in the battle between EDIFACT versus XBRL Data Exchange Standards in India","Anantapantula, Alekhya (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Rezaei, J. (graduation committee); Janssen, M.F.W.H.A. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Companies and governments use information technology standards to conduct data exchange, the concept being called Business to Government (B2G) data exchange. Companies use these standards to report their financial and business data to the government and governments collect these data for regulatory purposes. This research analyses two such competing data standards EDIFACT and XBRL in the context of B2G data exchange in India. Both the standards have their own set of supporters (regulators and firms) due to which it is uncertain which standard will become the dominant standard in future. Therefore, it is important for standard supporters to identify and leverage factors that could increase the likelihood of dominance of these standards. This is because, implementation of such data standards firstly requires major changes to be made to the existing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures. Secondly, such decisions are costly and difficult to reverse.
This research focuses on the factors that play a major role in the battle for dominance in the field of B2G data exchange between EDIFACT and XBRL in India. Five phases were described in this research that the standards go through in their lifecycle when battling for dominance. These phases were designed using the framework of Suarez 2004 as a foundation [1]. To analyze the battle and identify the factors in a structured manner, this research was conducted in 3 main steps. Firstly, factors that were relevant in each phase for the battle between XBRL and EDIFACT were identified via an extensive literature search. This has resulted in a comprehensive list of 21 factors. The second step was primary data collection to identify the most important factors that are crucial to XBRL and EDIFACT with the help of a questionnaire. 9 experts in the field of data exchange standards answered the questionnaire. Data collection and data analysis were done using a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method called the Best Worst Method. The third step was to calculate weights and establish importance of these factors for EDIFACT and XBRL using BWM. In conclusion, 12 factors are identified to be very crucial in the battle for dominance between EDIFACT and XBRL in B2G data exchange in India. These are Availability of a more general standard and Collaborations in phase 1, technical Capabilities and diversity of network in phase 2, regulatory support, awareness of the standard, and, implementation costs and time in phase 3, infrastructure dependency, switching costs, trial-ability and observe-ability, intermediaries and Bandwagon effects in phase 4, and, the factor innovation capabilities in phase 5. Based on the progress that the standards have made till date, and the results of BWM, XBRL has better chances of becoming dominant in future.
The results of this research have significant contributions in research and practical applications of standard battles. This research bridges the gap that exists in the literature between two different aspects of standard dominance – Phases – which look at the evolutionary aspects of standards over time and, Factors – which
consider a single point of time at which factors affect dominance of a standard. By combining these two perspectives, this research provides a way to not only analyse standard dominance battles in a phase-wise approach, but also to identify factors that can play a crucial role in increasing the likelihood of standard dominance in each phase of lifecycle of the battle. By doing so, one could establish chances for dominance of a standard in future, by analyzing historical progress of the standard.
This research also has practical implications for standard supporters and managers of firms who are willing to implement these standards in India. Standard supporters can strengthen their efforts in the direction of the factors identified in this research to promote the adoption of the standard they support.
Managers of firms can also benefit from this research as it would help them make informed decisions about choosing the standard suitable for their organization. For example, they can see where their firms stand with regards to the factors identified in this research to improve their chances of successfully implementing their standard of interest by leveraging these factors. This is important because, with new innovations evolving rapidly in the field of ICT, implementation of ICT standards is no more seen as a tool for achieving business objectives, but has become a strategic choice and a part of the overall business strategy of the companies.
Future recommendations of this research include expanding the scope to analyze this battle in the field of B2B (business to business) data exchange. Another interesting area to study in future would be to explore the fragmentation of data exchange standards in the B2B and B2G sectors.","technology battles; data exchange; Business-to-government; data standards; EDIFACT; XBRL; XML; ICT; Best Worst Method; Business reporting; Electronic Data Interchanage","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","","20.5937, 78.9629"
"uuid:c93516c5-1b1c-48c1-8ebd-f74023d82489","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c93516c5-1b1c-48c1-8ebd-f74023d82489","Evaluation of gearbox and direct drive wind turbines: An application of the technology dominance theory combined with the Best-Worst-Method to assess the effect of factors for technology dominance on the technology dominance process of wind turbines","van Ek, Martijn (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)","van de Kaa, G. (mentor); Kamp, L.M. (graduation committee); van Geenhuizen, M.S. (graduation committee); Delft University of Technology (degree granting institution)","2017","Power generation is at the forefront of a transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources (RES). Wind energy is a promising technology with rapid developments and the installed base of wind turbines is continuously increasing. Currently, the majority of the installed wind turbines can be categorised under the direct drive wind turbine and the gearbox turbine. Both technologies have a substantial market share and the technological developments in this industry are advancing rapidly. At this stage, it is uncertain which technology will become the dominant design in the future. Therefore, both designs are analysed in this research by the application of the Best-Worst-Method, a type of Multi-Criteria-Decision-Making model. First, a list of factors for technology dominance is established for the technology battle between direct drive and gearbox wind turbines by conducting interviews with experts in the wind turbine market. The relevance of these factors is determined in a literature study. This results in a set of relevant factors that are ranked during a second round of interviews among four categories of experts in the wind turbine market. Furthermore, the experts will ranked the direct drive and gearbox technology with respect to the relevant factors for this specific case. This methodology is applied during three phases of the technology dominance process. Hereby is empirically determined if there is a change in the importance of factors and final technology score throughout the dominance process. This provides insight in which of both designs is most likely to become the dominant design in the future. During this study, a list of 8 relevant factors for the technology battle between direct drive and gearbox wind turbines has been established and two new factors are found. These factors and two technologies have been ranked in three phases of the dominance process resulting in a ranked list of factors and a final technology score. Based on this it is found that the importance of factors varies between the three phases of the dominance process. Furthermore, it is found that before the technology battle the gearbox wind turbine scored highest and that currently the transition from gearbox to direct drive wind turbines is going on. Our data proves that the direct drive wind turbine will win the technology battle and will become dominant. However, we also found that the wind turbine market cannot be considered as a “winner takes it all” market. Implying that the gearbox and direct drive wind turbine can coexist, where the direct drive is the dominant technology. In this study a new factor was found (rate of adoption) that allows both technologies to coexist. We suggest to further analyse the effects of this factor in future research to provide a body of cases to confirm the effect of the rate of adoption on coexistence. Furthermore, it is suggested to research the effect of policies with respect to the factors for technology dominance that have been found to speed up the adoption of wind turbines as a renewable energy source. Finally, we propose to construct a framework that provides an overview of which factors apply to which industry. This framework can serve as a valuable managing/ decision making tool.","Renewable Energy; Sutainability; Energy Transition; WInd turbine; Direct drive; Gearbox; Best-Worst-Method; Technology dominance","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","","","","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""
"uuid:f37ee12e-17d4-4b81-b89e-0dbdc22f3eb8","http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f37ee12e-17d4-4b81-b89e-0dbdc22f3eb8","Added Value Framework and Information Technology Capabilities of Enterprise Application Integration","Baskaran, B.","Van Beers, C.P. (mentor); Bouwman, W.A.G.A. (mentor); Van der Duin, P.A. (mentor)","2014","This research deals with enterprise application integration with two new perspectives. The two perspectives are added value and information technology capabilities. Enterprise applications are a set of software packages that help organizations run their businesses. Enterprise applications have been used consistently in all industries. This wide usage resulted in new requirements from the users for functional specific and industry specific enterprise applications. This requirement made sure that the enterprise application market is filled with vendors who are developing many specialized enterprise applications. The result of the range of applications led to them becoming silo applications (applications that cannot communicate with other applications). Thus, the new problem came with respect to how to make sure these silo applications communicate with each other without changing the existing business and IT environment. This brought the concept of enterprise application integration (EAI). EAI is defined as the unlimited sharing and coordination of data and business process between any connected application and data source in an enterprise. The two perspectives that this research focuses on addressing the core problem that is existing in integration - users of enterprise applications are neither aware of the value of integration nor are they aware of the capabilities they need to make sure the integration is implementable. Software vendors are also facing stiff competition from the market and are interested in developing integrated solutions. But with a lack of knowledge of the adopter’s requirements, they lack a clear strategy for improving their product offerings. External consultants also face challenges from dealing with different applications and making them communicate as stand-alone systems. Thus, there is no clear focus on why EAI should be done and what capabilities are needed to do it. This research focuses on this knowledge gap by having the following objectives: ? Develop a framework that can be used to assess the added values of enterprise application integration. ? Identify the information technology capabilities needed to implement enterprise application integration. The three applications that form the focus of this research for EAI are Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship (CRM) and Multichannel commerce. The research also focuses on Fast Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry since the use of digital channels for shopping is increasing among customers. Another reason why FMCG is a fitting industry for this research is that the important processes in the industry such as logistics, supply chain, customer relations are dealt with by the three applications. These two factors make FMCG an ideal industry for this research. Two theoretical models were used to develop the added value framework namely, Enterprise Application Benefit Framework and Value Creation for E-Business Model. The added value framework developed can be positioned as a aggregation of these two models with the perspective of enterprise application integration in FMCG industry which has not been done before. The research operationalized enterprise application integration using three business processes namely Customer_Order_Online, Customer_Complaint_Call_Center and Marketing_Campaign_Management. All the business processes are developed loosely based on SAP ECC, SAP CRM, SAP-Hybris applications. The business processes were developed keeping in mind that all the three applications under the research have to be involved with each other and must include the stakeholders in the process flow. Information technology capabilities were measured using two dimensions namely human and hardware capabilities. Human capabilities refer to the technical and managerial skills needed and hardware capabilities refer to the hardware storage and speed of computation. Research Method The research technique used for the research is Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Likert Scale. Data was collected from four stakeholders namely software vendors, software adopters, external consultants and academic professionals through an online survey. Conclusions The developed framework determine added value from two dimensions derived from the two existing models. The two dimensions represent two constructs of added values. The first dimension which represents the importance of the added value is categorized as novelty, efficiency, lock-in and complementarities. The second dimension represents the intensity of the added values and is categorized as strategic, managerial and operational. Based on the framework and the business processes that were used to operationalize enterprise application integration, nine added values were identified namely, Improved Business Planning, Increased IT alignment with business, Better Customer Experience Increased Company Common Vision, Improved on time Delivery, Accurate Sales Forecasting, Streamlined business processes, Increased Data Quality, Increase in Sales. These added values were then fitted into the framework based on the business processes previously defined. The developed framework was then tested using the online survey. The results for the second objective indicate that the highest capability needed is cross departmental interaction between IT and business units. This capability is also related to the increase in business IT alignment added value. The need for IT technical employees to gain managerial skills was also the second highest capability needed. The capabilities that were not required were business managers learning IT technical details and more hardware storage for integration. Generalization of the research The framework was developed with the SAP applications and hence the business processes were developed from these applications’ modules. But using this framework for other business processes would not be an issue at all since the framework itself does not rely on the business processes and only the added values are dependent on the business processes. The information capabilities identified are applicable to any type of company irrespective of whether they treat IT as a support or a strategic tool. The framework can also be used to determine the added values of other industries based on the business processes. Future Research More research can be carried out for the validation of the framework and fill the empty slots for combinations of added values that are novel and operational. Other factors that affect the concept of capabilities apart from IT, such as organizational, financial and regulations have to be investigated. Future research must include another important stakeholder in the framework which is the end customers since they are important in the adopter’s strategy. And the framework must be tested in other industries and with other enterprise applications products apart from SAP to make the framework more robust. Limitations of the research The research has five limitations. First, the framework is developed based on business processes suitable for SAP applications. Although the framework is not dependent on the business processes, in order to improve the external validity, more research has to be done on how it changes to other vendor applications and business processes. Second, the list of added values is limited to nine since increasing added values will affect computation of Analytic Hierarchy Process and increases the survey length. Third, the list of business processes is also limited to only three but they are some of the most commonly used business processes. But future research can be done to see if the framework works for other business processes. Fourth, due to the small sample size, this research serves as exploration and first validation of the constructed framework and further research can be conducted to do more extensive validation by means of survey research, mainly through in depth interviews. Finally, the adopters’ size can maybe be a limiting factor for using the framework. Since it clearly distinguishes the organizational levels within a company, SMEs and other smaller companies may not be the most suitable firms to use this framework.","Enterprise Application Integration; added value; multichannel commerce; ERP; CRM; FMCG; information technology capabilities","en","master thesis","","","","","","","","2014-09-02","Technology, Policy and Management","Information and Communication Technology (ICT)","","Management of Technology (MoT)","",""