V.E. Scholten
info
Please Note
<p>This page displays the records of the person named above and is not linked to a unique person identifier. This record may need to be merged to a profile.</p>
64 records found
1
Small-scale entrepreneurship in low-income countries such as Tanzania plays an important role in supporting economic growth, reducing poverty, and promoting social development. In recent years, there has been a steady increase in projects led by NGOs, universities, and local organisations that aim to support existing businesses or help create new ones. Despite this, there is no commonly used framework to assess their socio-economic impact in a clear and structured way. Most existing tools are designed for large companies, focus mainly on financial outcomes, or require resources and time that small-scale projects cannot afford. This makes it difficult for practitioners to assess whether a project has had a positive effect, what changes it brought about, and how future support could be improved.
...
This research seeks to address this gap by designing a context-sensitive framework specifically aimed at assessing the socio-economic impact of small-scale entrepreneurship projects in Tanzania. The main research question guiding this work was: What context-relevant framework can be designed to assess the socio-economic impact of small-scale entrepreneurship projects in Tanzania?.
To answer this question, the study explored what indicators are used to measure impact, which are most suitable for small-scale projects, and what insights can be gained from applying the framework in practice.\\
Tanzania was chosen because small and medium-sized enterprises are a key part of its economy, making up about 90% of all registered businesses and contributing nearly half of GDP, which makes it well suited to explore how the impact of entrepreneurship can be assessed in practice. Moreover, many SMEs rely on partnerships and external support to overcome structural barriers such as limited access to finance and markets. Second, the research benefitted from established collaborations between the Delft University of Technology and local organisations such as YEP Tanzania and the CHAKO organisation, which facilitated field access and overall logistical coordination.
The design of the framework followed a multi-phase process grounded in a Design Thinking approach. A literature review was conducted, identifying around 1,500 indicators from established frameworks. Although these sources primarily addressed large-scale or corporate projects, they provided a valuable starting point. Indicators were filtered in successive steps based on relevance, measurability, and contextual fit, significantly reducing their number.
To complement this theoretical foundation, twelve semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with academics, programme coordinators, and local practitioners to validate the selection and integrate practical insights.
Building on these findings, a prototype framework was developed and tested during a one-month field study in Tanzania, involving two weeks of work with YEP Tanzania in Misungwi and two weeks with the CHAKO organisation in Zanzibar. During this period, interviews were conducted with project participants to assess the perceived relevance of the identified impact areas, the clarity of the questions, and their cultural sensitivity. In addition, the framework was applied to two case studies consisting of student-led projects implemented in recent years to evaluate its usability and consistency.
The final version of the framework is designed to be accessible, time-efficient, contextually appropriate, and adaptable to different types of interventions. It is available in four formats, in Swahili and English, with options to administer it after completion or before and after an intervention. The framework is provided both as a text-based tool and as an online version to facilitate wider use.
While the framework provides a practical way to assess socio-economic impact, it also has limitations. Further testing across more projects is recommended to refine its validity, understand when income-related indicators are appropriate, and ensure it remains relevant in diverse contexts. Overall, this work has introduced a structured approach to measuring the impact of small-scale entrepreneurship projects, filling a gap where no practical tools were previously available.
Small-scale entrepreneurship in low-income countries such as Tanzania plays an important role in supporting economic growth, reducing poverty, and promoting social development. In recent years, there has been a steady increase in projects led by NGOs, universities, and local organisations that aim to support existing businesses or help create new ones. Despite this, there is no commonly used framework to assess their socio-economic impact in a clear and structured way. Most existing tools are designed for large companies, focus mainly on financial outcomes, or require resources and time that small-scale projects cannot afford. This makes it difficult for practitioners to assess whether a project has had a positive effect, what changes it brought about, and how future support could be improved.
This research seeks to address this gap by designing a context-sensitive framework specifically aimed at assessing the socio-economic impact of small-scale entrepreneurship projects in Tanzania. The main research question guiding this work was: What context-relevant framework can be designed to assess the socio-economic impact of small-scale entrepreneurship projects in Tanzania?.
To answer this question, the study explored what indicators are used to measure impact, which are most suitable for small-scale projects, and what insights can be gained from applying the framework in practice.\\
Tanzania was chosen because small and medium-sized enterprises are a key part of its economy, making up about 90% of all registered businesses and contributing nearly half of GDP, which makes it well suited to explore how the impact of entrepreneurship can be assessed in practice. Moreover, many SMEs rely on partnerships and external support to overcome structural barriers such as limited access to finance and markets. Second, the research benefitted from established collaborations between the Delft University of Technology and local organisations such as YEP Tanzania and the CHAKO organisation, which facilitated field access and overall logistical coordination.
The design of the framework followed a multi-phase process grounded in a Design Thinking approach. A literature review was conducted, identifying around 1,500 indicators from established frameworks. Although these sources primarily addressed large-scale or corporate projects, they provided a valuable starting point. Indicators were filtered in successive steps based on relevance, measurability, and contextual fit, significantly reducing their number.
To complement this theoretical foundation, twelve semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with academics, programme coordinators, and local practitioners to validate the selection and integrate practical insights.
Building on these findings, a prototype framework was developed and tested during a one-month field study in Tanzania, involving two weeks of work with YEP Tanzania in Misungwi and two weeks with the CHAKO organisation in Zanzibar. During this period, interviews were conducted with project participants to assess the perceived relevance of the identified impact areas, the clarity of the questions, and their cultural sensitivity. In addition, the framework was applied to two case studies consisting of student-led projects implemented in recent years to evaluate its usability and consistency.
The final version of the framework is designed to be accessible, time-efficient, contextually appropriate, and adaptable to different types of interventions. It is available in four formats, in Swahili and English, with options to administer it after completion or before and after an intervention. The framework is provided both as a text-based tool and as an online version to facilitate wider use.
While the framework provides a practical way to assess socio-economic impact, it also has limitations. Further testing across more projects is recommended to refine its validity, understand when income-related indicators are appropriate, and ensure it remains relevant in diverse contexts. Overall, this work has introduced a structured approach to measuring the impact of small-scale entrepreneurship projects, filling a gap where no practical tools were previously available.
Assessing the Suitability of AI Tools for Data Correction and Enhancement
An Evaluation and Benchmarking Framework
Despite the rapid advancement of AI in various fields, there remains a gap in research concerning its suitability and evaluation for general data analysis across diverse domains. The application of AI tools to process, clean, and improve complex, incomplete, or noisy datasets has not been thoroughly explored. Key challenges include determining how effectively these tools can detect and correct errors, augment data, and ensure improvements in data quality. This research not only evaluates the performance of AI tools in these tasks but also develops a structured framework for testing their capabilities in error detection, correction, and supplementation. Using the open-source Canadian Wind Turbine Database as a case study, this study introduces intentional errors to create controlled scenarios for evaluation. The framework offers insights into the effectiveness, limitations, and best practices for applying AI tools like ChatGPT to real-world data analysis challenges.
...
Despite the rapid advancement of AI in various fields, there remains a gap in research concerning its suitability and evaluation for general data analysis across diverse domains. The application of AI tools to process, clean, and improve complex, incomplete, or noisy datasets has not been thoroughly explored. Key challenges include determining how effectively these tools can detect and correct errors, augment data, and ensure improvements in data quality. This research not only evaluates the performance of AI tools in these tasks but also develops a structured framework for testing their capabilities in error detection, correction, and supplementation. Using the open-source Canadian Wind Turbine Database as a case study, this study introduces intentional errors to create controlled scenarios for evaluation. The framework offers insights into the effectiveness, limitations, and best practices for applying AI tools like ChatGPT to real-world data analysis challenges.
The motivation for this thesis stems from the widespread desire across various policy levels to accelerate the energy transition. While large established companies play a crucial role in this transition, owing to their substantial R&D capacity and their deep integration within socio-technical systems, this thesis focuses on young, agile companies. These emerging companies, have “little to lose”, can bear more risks and are flexible to easily penetrate specialized market niches. This thesis specifically examines innovative start-ups, with a particular emphasis on university spin-off companies.
The thesis investigates the determinants of innovative entrepreneurship and firm survival on the time required for market introduction and the longevity of spin-offs in the sustainable energy sector. The empirical analyses in this thesis draw on an original database of university spin-off companies, tracked retrospectively from 1998 to 2018. The spin-offs are founded in five countries: Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, chosen for their long-standing favourable national innovation systems (NIS), and the Netherlands and Norway, selected for their comparatively less favourable NIS and sustainable energy landscapes during part of the study period.
The data collection employed a mixed-method approach, incorporating face-to-face interviews, which, when possible, were conducted in two moments; first shortly after company formation and second interview was taken several years later. Data gathering was supplemented by telephone interviews and information from written sources such as company websites, university websites, investment consortia reports, and reports by sustainable energy organizations, and multi-level policy bodies. This time-intensive methodology ensures data reliability. The final dataset comprises 106 companies...
...
The thesis investigates the determinants of innovative entrepreneurship and firm survival on the time required for market introduction and the longevity of spin-offs in the sustainable energy sector. The empirical analyses in this thesis draw on an original database of university spin-off companies, tracked retrospectively from 1998 to 2018. The spin-offs are founded in five countries: Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, chosen for their long-standing favourable national innovation systems (NIS), and the Netherlands and Norway, selected for their comparatively less favourable NIS and sustainable energy landscapes during part of the study period.
The data collection employed a mixed-method approach, incorporating face-to-face interviews, which, when possible, were conducted in two moments; first shortly after company formation and second interview was taken several years later. Data gathering was supplemented by telephone interviews and information from written sources such as company websites, university websites, investment consortia reports, and reports by sustainable energy organizations, and multi-level policy bodies. This time-intensive methodology ensures data reliability. The final dataset comprises 106 companies...
...
The motivation for this thesis stems from the widespread desire across various policy levels to accelerate the energy transition. While large established companies play a crucial role in this transition, owing to their substantial R&D capacity and their deep integration within socio-technical systems, this thesis focuses on young, agile companies. These emerging companies, have “little to lose”, can bear more risks and are flexible to easily penetrate specialized market niches. This thesis specifically examines innovative start-ups, with a particular emphasis on university spin-off companies.
The thesis investigates the determinants of innovative entrepreneurship and firm survival on the time required for market introduction and the longevity of spin-offs in the sustainable energy sector. The empirical analyses in this thesis draw on an original database of university spin-off companies, tracked retrospectively from 1998 to 2018. The spin-offs are founded in five countries: Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, chosen for their long-standing favourable national innovation systems (NIS), and the Netherlands and Norway, selected for their comparatively less favourable NIS and sustainable energy landscapes during part of the study period.
The data collection employed a mixed-method approach, incorporating face-to-face interviews, which, when possible, were conducted in two moments; first shortly after company formation and second interview was taken several years later. Data gathering was supplemented by telephone interviews and information from written sources such as company websites, university websites, investment consortia reports, and reports by sustainable energy organizations, and multi-level policy bodies. This time-intensive methodology ensures data reliability. The final dataset comprises 106 companies...
The thesis investigates the determinants of innovative entrepreneurship and firm survival on the time required for market introduction and the longevity of spin-offs in the sustainable energy sector. The empirical analyses in this thesis draw on an original database of university spin-off companies, tracked retrospectively from 1998 to 2018. The spin-offs are founded in five countries: Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, chosen for their long-standing favourable national innovation systems (NIS), and the Netherlands and Norway, selected for their comparatively less favourable NIS and sustainable energy landscapes during part of the study period.
The data collection employed a mixed-method approach, incorporating face-to-face interviews, which, when possible, were conducted in two moments; first shortly after company formation and second interview was taken several years later. Data gathering was supplemented by telephone interviews and information from written sources such as company websites, university websites, investment consortia reports, and reports by sustainable energy organizations, and multi-level policy bodies. This time-intensive methodology ensures data reliability. The final dataset comprises 106 companies...
A framework to transfer information from sales to operations in new-build yachting
A case study in an Engineer-to-Order environment
Master thesis
(2024)
-
J.J.M. van den Heuvel, L. Rook, V.E. Scholten, Noël Versteeg, Stephan van der Ruit
Unstable information transfers at the beginning of a project lead to risks and uncertainties in the project's development. In the yachting industry, it's known that the project's duration is long-term, and the costs are high. The impact of uncertainties regarding the maturity of information at the beginning of the project can bear enormous costs and delays at the end of the project. Information transfer lacks a consistent and uniform process from sales & design to operations. The success of the yacht-building process is increased by avoiding delays in delivering the yacht and reducing excessive extra costs. Using an information system between the different disciplines and/or departments can increase the success of the yacht-building process. The focus of this problem is at the beginning of a project on the information flow between the 'commercial team' and the 'project team'. This raises the question of how an information transfer framework can improve the exchange of information to avoid uncertainties in new-build yachts. The method for this research is a case study within a Dutch yacht-building company. Knowledge about the currently available Sales and Operations Planning process (S\&OP), luxury and complex Engineer-to-Order (ETO) environments, and Information Management will be gathered through literature research. The company's needs and requirements regarding an information framework are defined by a structured analysis of interviews both manually and in Atlas.ti. Combining these knowledge sources provides input for the design of the information transfer framework and recommendations for improving information transfer within the company. Finally, the Information Transfer Framework (ITF) is based on knowledge activities, which are activities of transferring knowledge and the drivers of why to share the knowledge. Recommendations for the company operating in the unique, luxurious, and complex engineer-to-order environment include improving collaboration between departments and processes, training in data management, balancing flexible and structured information, and increasing proactive problem-solving. The research contributes by integrating a useful Information Transfer Framework within the S&OP process in luxury and complex ETO environments.
Keywords: Information Management, Sales & Operations Planning (S\&OP) process, commercial, operational, information transfer framework, Engineer-to-order, Structured information sharing, luxury goods, and case study.
...
Keywords: Information Management, Sales & Operations Planning (S\&OP) process, commercial, operational, information transfer framework, Engineer-to-order, Structured information sharing, luxury goods, and case study.
...
Unstable information transfers at the beginning of a project lead to risks and uncertainties in the project's development. In the yachting industry, it's known that the project's duration is long-term, and the costs are high. The impact of uncertainties regarding the maturity of information at the beginning of the project can bear enormous costs and delays at the end of the project. Information transfer lacks a consistent and uniform process from sales & design to operations. The success of the yacht-building process is increased by avoiding delays in delivering the yacht and reducing excessive extra costs. Using an information system between the different disciplines and/or departments can increase the success of the yacht-building process. The focus of this problem is at the beginning of a project on the information flow between the 'commercial team' and the 'project team'. This raises the question of how an information transfer framework can improve the exchange of information to avoid uncertainties in new-build yachts. The method for this research is a case study within a Dutch yacht-building company. Knowledge about the currently available Sales and Operations Planning process (S\&OP), luxury and complex Engineer-to-Order (ETO) environments, and Information Management will be gathered through literature research. The company's needs and requirements regarding an information framework are defined by a structured analysis of interviews both manually and in Atlas.ti. Combining these knowledge sources provides input for the design of the information transfer framework and recommendations for improving information transfer within the company. Finally, the Information Transfer Framework (ITF) is based on knowledge activities, which are activities of transferring knowledge and the drivers of why to share the knowledge. Recommendations for the company operating in the unique, luxurious, and complex engineer-to-order environment include improving collaboration between departments and processes, training in data management, balancing flexible and structured information, and increasing proactive problem-solving. The research contributes by integrating a useful Information Transfer Framework within the S&OP process in luxury and complex ETO environments.
Keywords: Information Management, Sales & Operations Planning (S\&OP) process, commercial, operational, information transfer framework, Engineer-to-order, Structured information sharing, luxury goods, and case study.
Keywords: Information Management, Sales & Operations Planning (S\&OP) process, commercial, operational, information transfer framework, Engineer-to-order, Structured information sharing, luxury goods, and case study.
Motivating “Sharing” to Enhance Circular Community in Bali, Indonesia
A Participatory Action Research on Balinese Community
This research addresses the revitalization of Balinese cultural values, which inherently embody circular economy principles and support sustainable communities. The key problem tackled is the decline in communal sharing and the shift towards individualistic behaviors, exacerbated by modernization and tourism, which undermine traditional practices and increase waste. Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, the study involved desk research, interviews, and a community workshop to co-create an intervention. A major finding is the effectiveness of a barter market intervention, which aligns with traditional values like Ngayah and Tri Hita Karana, promoting non-monetary exchanges and fostering community bonds. The study recommends employing pulling, facilitating, and matching strategies to enhance participation and integration of well-being aspects in the Circular Value Flower (CVF) framework. This research provides practical insights for fostering sustainable practices and emphasizes the need for collective responsibility in climate change adaptation, making it relevant for researcher, policymakers and community leaders aiming to promote circular economies in culturally diverse contexts.
...
This research addresses the revitalization of Balinese cultural values, which inherently embody circular economy principles and support sustainable communities. The key problem tackled is the decline in communal sharing and the shift towards individualistic behaviors, exacerbated by modernization and tourism, which undermine traditional practices and increase waste. Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, the study involved desk research, interviews, and a community workshop to co-create an intervention. A major finding is the effectiveness of a barter market intervention, which aligns with traditional values like Ngayah and Tri Hita Karana, promoting non-monetary exchanges and fostering community bonds. The study recommends employing pulling, facilitating, and matching strategies to enhance participation and integration of well-being aspects in the Circular Value Flower (CVF) framework. This research provides practical insights for fostering sustainable practices and emphasizes the need for collective responsibility in climate change adaptation, making it relevant for researcher, policymakers and community leaders aiming to promote circular economies in culturally diverse contexts.
Poland represents an emergent venture capital (VC) market and it faces several critical challenges that impede its growth and dynamism. Key issues identified include a lack of growth capital, diminishing market activity, dependency on public funds, and a scarcity of foreign investment. To address these challenges, this thesis proposes the internationalisation of Poland's VC market by attracting foreign capital as a viable solution. Given that emergent VC markets similar to Poland are understudied in existing literature, this study provides a qualitative analysis framework to better understand these markets through the perspectives of industry participants. Focal to the research are the determinants of the foreign investor's decision to enter the Polish market with different degrees of commitment. The key results reveal ecosystem dynamics, incorporating complex network of variables and processes, which ultimately have their effect on the perception of risk and return in such ecosystem. This comprehensive analysis aims to offer new insights into the unique dynamics of emergent VC markets and propose actionable strategies to address the ecosystem issues and enhance their development, by integrating into the global venture capital landscape.
...
Poland represents an emergent venture capital (VC) market and it faces several critical challenges that impede its growth and dynamism. Key issues identified include a lack of growth capital, diminishing market activity, dependency on public funds, and a scarcity of foreign investment. To address these challenges, this thesis proposes the internationalisation of Poland's VC market by attracting foreign capital as a viable solution. Given that emergent VC markets similar to Poland are understudied in existing literature, this study provides a qualitative analysis framework to better understand these markets through the perspectives of industry participants. Focal to the research are the determinants of the foreign investor's decision to enter the Polish market with different degrees of commitment. The key results reveal ecosystem dynamics, incorporating complex network of variables and processes, which ultimately have their effect on the perception of risk and return in such ecosystem. This comprehensive analysis aims to offer new insights into the unique dynamics of emergent VC markets and propose actionable strategies to address the ecosystem issues and enhance their development, by integrating into the global venture capital landscape.
Exploring financial inclusion among small-scale farmers
The case of small-scale horticulture in Ghana
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
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.
...
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.
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
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.
...
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.
Regulatory and industry standards compliance in hardware technology startups
Qualitative interview study exploring the impact of legal and industry standards compliance on iterative development in hardware technology startups
In today’s high-tech industries, technological innovation has become a crucial strategy for businesses seeking growth and expanding competitiveness. The growth of technology-based startups is especially notable, as they employ innovation processes that are often unfeasible within larger organizations. However, despite the abundance of talent and ideas, illustrated by the countless patents filed by entrepreneurs, many innovative companies struggle to translate their breakthrough technologies into commercial success. For startups developing hardware technology, the challenges are even more complex. These firms face significant hurdles in scaling up their operations, as regulatory and industry standards compliance add layers of complexity to their development processes. These startups often encounter conflicts between the iterative innovation process and the need to meet mandatory compliance requirements, leading to delays and increased costs.
This study investigates the challenges hardware startups face with regulatory and industry standards compliance, offering insights for entrepreneurs and stakeholders. The central research question explored is: "How can technology-based hardware startups include regulatory and industry standards compliance during the development process of their technology and products?”
To answer this question, a systematic literature review is carried out to map and thoughtfully understand the existing academic concepts related to this topic. Also, more specific exploratory research is performed to create a foundational understanding of the regulatory and industry standards landscape, faced by hardware-tech startups. Thirdly and most significantly, interviews were conducted with twelve hardware tech startups across various industries. These interviews provided knowledge of participants' experiences, motivations, and insights.
The findings of this study revealed that technology-based hardware startups find consensus in balancing validated learning principles i.e. hypothesis-driven entrepreneurship and hardware development, due to inherent hardware constraints. These challenges include restrictions in producing multiple MVPs, the inability to conduct pilot testing and long development cycles. However, all startups emphasize the importance of early market interaction for validating their business and customer assumptions. In addition, technology-based hardware startups face a complex regulatory landscape that requires adherence to both mandatory technology and product regulations, and additional industry standards, impacting their development processes. Awareness in startups of relevant regulations and standards varies, with some startups engaging external experts while others rely on market feedback. Overall, it is hard for startups to accurately estimate the real impact of compliance processes, especially since lead times for certification approvals, managed by notified bodies, do not align with rapid iterative development. Compliance processes can lead to increased costs and delays, requiring startups to build internal expertise to manage these requirements effectively. Furthermore, the timing of compliance efforts is critical, to align and implement requirements with product development phases.
Ultimately, this research highlights the need for an integrated approach for compliance and product development, while stressing that the challenges that come with compliance, are often overlooked by startups, academia, and the broader ecosystem.
...
This study investigates the challenges hardware startups face with regulatory and industry standards compliance, offering insights for entrepreneurs and stakeholders. The central research question explored is: "How can technology-based hardware startups include regulatory and industry standards compliance during the development process of their technology and products?”
To answer this question, a systematic literature review is carried out to map and thoughtfully understand the existing academic concepts related to this topic. Also, more specific exploratory research is performed to create a foundational understanding of the regulatory and industry standards landscape, faced by hardware-tech startups. Thirdly and most significantly, interviews were conducted with twelve hardware tech startups across various industries. These interviews provided knowledge of participants' experiences, motivations, and insights.
The findings of this study revealed that technology-based hardware startups find consensus in balancing validated learning principles i.e. hypothesis-driven entrepreneurship and hardware development, due to inherent hardware constraints. These challenges include restrictions in producing multiple MVPs, the inability to conduct pilot testing and long development cycles. However, all startups emphasize the importance of early market interaction for validating their business and customer assumptions. In addition, technology-based hardware startups face a complex regulatory landscape that requires adherence to both mandatory technology and product regulations, and additional industry standards, impacting their development processes. Awareness in startups of relevant regulations and standards varies, with some startups engaging external experts while others rely on market feedback. Overall, it is hard for startups to accurately estimate the real impact of compliance processes, especially since lead times for certification approvals, managed by notified bodies, do not align with rapid iterative development. Compliance processes can lead to increased costs and delays, requiring startups to build internal expertise to manage these requirements effectively. Furthermore, the timing of compliance efforts is critical, to align and implement requirements with product development phases.
Ultimately, this research highlights the need for an integrated approach for compliance and product development, while stressing that the challenges that come with compliance, are often overlooked by startups, academia, and the broader ecosystem.
...
In today’s high-tech industries, technological innovation has become a crucial strategy for businesses seeking growth and expanding competitiveness. The growth of technology-based startups is especially notable, as they employ innovation processes that are often unfeasible within larger organizations. However, despite the abundance of talent and ideas, illustrated by the countless patents filed by entrepreneurs, many innovative companies struggle to translate their breakthrough technologies into commercial success. For startups developing hardware technology, the challenges are even more complex. These firms face significant hurdles in scaling up their operations, as regulatory and industry standards compliance add layers of complexity to their development processes. These startups often encounter conflicts between the iterative innovation process and the need to meet mandatory compliance requirements, leading to delays and increased costs.
This study investigates the challenges hardware startups face with regulatory and industry standards compliance, offering insights for entrepreneurs and stakeholders. The central research question explored is: "How can technology-based hardware startups include regulatory and industry standards compliance during the development process of their technology and products?”
To answer this question, a systematic literature review is carried out to map and thoughtfully understand the existing academic concepts related to this topic. Also, more specific exploratory research is performed to create a foundational understanding of the regulatory and industry standards landscape, faced by hardware-tech startups. Thirdly and most significantly, interviews were conducted with twelve hardware tech startups across various industries. These interviews provided knowledge of participants' experiences, motivations, and insights.
The findings of this study revealed that technology-based hardware startups find consensus in balancing validated learning principles i.e. hypothesis-driven entrepreneurship and hardware development, due to inherent hardware constraints. These challenges include restrictions in producing multiple MVPs, the inability to conduct pilot testing and long development cycles. However, all startups emphasize the importance of early market interaction for validating their business and customer assumptions. In addition, technology-based hardware startups face a complex regulatory landscape that requires adherence to both mandatory technology and product regulations, and additional industry standards, impacting their development processes. Awareness in startups of relevant regulations and standards varies, with some startups engaging external experts while others rely on market feedback. Overall, it is hard for startups to accurately estimate the real impact of compliance processes, especially since lead times for certification approvals, managed by notified bodies, do not align with rapid iterative development. Compliance processes can lead to increased costs and delays, requiring startups to build internal expertise to manage these requirements effectively. Furthermore, the timing of compliance efforts is critical, to align and implement requirements with product development phases.
Ultimately, this research highlights the need for an integrated approach for compliance and product development, while stressing that the challenges that come with compliance, are often overlooked by startups, academia, and the broader ecosystem.
This study investigates the challenges hardware startups face with regulatory and industry standards compliance, offering insights for entrepreneurs and stakeholders. The central research question explored is: "How can technology-based hardware startups include regulatory and industry standards compliance during the development process of their technology and products?”
To answer this question, a systematic literature review is carried out to map and thoughtfully understand the existing academic concepts related to this topic. Also, more specific exploratory research is performed to create a foundational understanding of the regulatory and industry standards landscape, faced by hardware-tech startups. Thirdly and most significantly, interviews were conducted with twelve hardware tech startups across various industries. These interviews provided knowledge of participants' experiences, motivations, and insights.
The findings of this study revealed that technology-based hardware startups find consensus in balancing validated learning principles i.e. hypothesis-driven entrepreneurship and hardware development, due to inherent hardware constraints. These challenges include restrictions in producing multiple MVPs, the inability to conduct pilot testing and long development cycles. However, all startups emphasize the importance of early market interaction for validating their business and customer assumptions. In addition, technology-based hardware startups face a complex regulatory landscape that requires adherence to both mandatory technology and product regulations, and additional industry standards, impacting their development processes. Awareness in startups of relevant regulations and standards varies, with some startups engaging external experts while others rely on market feedback. Overall, it is hard for startups to accurately estimate the real impact of compliance processes, especially since lead times for certification approvals, managed by notified bodies, do not align with rapid iterative development. Compliance processes can lead to increased costs and delays, requiring startups to build internal expertise to manage these requirements effectively. Furthermore, the timing of compliance efforts is critical, to align and implement requirements with product development phases.
Ultimately, this research highlights the need for an integrated approach for compliance and product development, while stressing that the challenges that come with compliance, are often overlooked by startups, academia, and the broader ecosystem.
In a world marked by rapid technological advancements and environmental concerns, clean technology clusters have become hubs of innovation. Attracting investment in these clusters has gained significant attention from scholars and industry professionals, which aim at understanding which activities companies can undertake in order to increase the attractiveness of the cluster and region.
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. ...
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. ...
In a world marked by rapid technological advancements and environmental concerns, clean technology clusters have become hubs of innovation. Attracting investment in these clusters has gained significant attention from scholars and industry professionals, which aim at understanding which activities companies can undertake in order to increase the attractiveness of the cluster and region.
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.
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.
Carbon Credit Incentives for Agroforestry
A Feasibility Study for Smallholder Farmers in Ghana's Ashanti Region
Climate change is a pressing concern affecting the livelihoods of farmers in Ghana's Ashanti region due to erratic rainfall patterns, primarily impacting rain-fed agriculture. This research explores the potential of carbon credits to encourage smallholder farmers in the Ashanti region to adopt agroforestry practices as a solution. Agroforestry, if effectively implemented, not only helps combat climate change by capturing carbon but also improves soil fertility, protects crops from extreme weather, and offers various benefits to local farmers. This study delves into the complexities of this issue to propose innovative solutions benefiting both the local farming community and the global climate challenge.
The carbon-based agroforestry system consists of three main parts: the carbon credit system, the institutional system, and the socio-technical system. To study this complex system, we adopt an illustrative case study approach, focusing on the Ashanti region in Ghana. Our research follows a top-down approach, beginning with comprehensive desk research to build a foundational understanding, followed by in-depth interviews with local farmers and selected experts, including government agencies and an NGO, to gain a nuanced understanding of the Ashanti region's context.
Taking into account the carbon credit system, significant attention is devoted to crafting a project framework that aligns with rigorous carbon standards. The accumulation of carbon credits over time serves as a means to secure initial investments. Farmer involvement, particularly their commitment, assumes paramount importance in the context of the carbon credit system, given that only mature trees can generate carbon credits. Primary risks pertain to tree cutting or tree mortality. To mitigate these risks, farmers need comprehensive training and access to essential tools for tree maintenance.
The land tenure system in the Ashanti region is notably complex, predominantly relying on the customary framework. Insights garnered from farmer interviews underscore the pronounced tenure insecurity that impedes farmer participation in the system. Securing land tenure documents is pivotal to instilling confidence among farmers regarding the equitable distribution of system benefits. Notably, varying farmer characteristics and specific traditional areas wield varying degrees of influence over land tenure security and the complexity of acquiring such documents. For system feasibility, a targeted approach focusing on engaging landowners and dispelling misconceptions while emphasising the advantages of land tenure documents is essential. Incentivising landowners through a share of the carbon revenue may also be necessary to ensure their active participation.
Farmers in the Ashanti region grapple with diverse challenges, stemming from erratic rainfall patterns, pest infestations, weed proliferation, and soil nutrient depletion. These challenges are compounded by financial constraints, exacerbating the farmers' livelihood struggles. Notably, farmers place a higher premium on the tangible benefits of increased fruit tree yields as the primary incentive for system participation, displaying comparatively lesser interest in the intangible monetary returns from carbon credits. Effective communication with farmers necessitates addressing their immediate concerns. Consequently, the agroforestry system should be designed to incorporate intercropped fruit trees, delivering additional yields while preserving the cultural significance of existing crops and optimising the environmental advantages of the system. Given that farmers predominantly learn through visual exposure, the initiation of a pilot agroforestry system can substantially bolster their willingness to participate. Simultaneously, the development of tailored training programs and the provision of essential tools are indispensable for empowering farmers to proficiently maintain the trees.
The significance of carbon credits within the system primarily lies in compensating cooperating and financial parties, as farmers prioritise other benefits. The institutional system's challenges, particularly in securing land tenure documents, pose substantial feasibility hurdles for the system's viability. In future research on this topic, it would be valuable to seek the insights of traditional authorities. ...
The carbon-based agroforestry system consists of three main parts: the carbon credit system, the institutional system, and the socio-technical system. To study this complex system, we adopt an illustrative case study approach, focusing on the Ashanti region in Ghana. Our research follows a top-down approach, beginning with comprehensive desk research to build a foundational understanding, followed by in-depth interviews with local farmers and selected experts, including government agencies and an NGO, to gain a nuanced understanding of the Ashanti region's context.
Taking into account the carbon credit system, significant attention is devoted to crafting a project framework that aligns with rigorous carbon standards. The accumulation of carbon credits over time serves as a means to secure initial investments. Farmer involvement, particularly their commitment, assumes paramount importance in the context of the carbon credit system, given that only mature trees can generate carbon credits. Primary risks pertain to tree cutting or tree mortality. To mitigate these risks, farmers need comprehensive training and access to essential tools for tree maintenance.
The land tenure system in the Ashanti region is notably complex, predominantly relying on the customary framework. Insights garnered from farmer interviews underscore the pronounced tenure insecurity that impedes farmer participation in the system. Securing land tenure documents is pivotal to instilling confidence among farmers regarding the equitable distribution of system benefits. Notably, varying farmer characteristics and specific traditional areas wield varying degrees of influence over land tenure security and the complexity of acquiring such documents. For system feasibility, a targeted approach focusing on engaging landowners and dispelling misconceptions while emphasising the advantages of land tenure documents is essential. Incentivising landowners through a share of the carbon revenue may also be necessary to ensure their active participation.
Farmers in the Ashanti region grapple with diverse challenges, stemming from erratic rainfall patterns, pest infestations, weed proliferation, and soil nutrient depletion. These challenges are compounded by financial constraints, exacerbating the farmers' livelihood struggles. Notably, farmers place a higher premium on the tangible benefits of increased fruit tree yields as the primary incentive for system participation, displaying comparatively lesser interest in the intangible monetary returns from carbon credits. Effective communication with farmers necessitates addressing their immediate concerns. Consequently, the agroforestry system should be designed to incorporate intercropped fruit trees, delivering additional yields while preserving the cultural significance of existing crops and optimising the environmental advantages of the system. Given that farmers predominantly learn through visual exposure, the initiation of a pilot agroforestry system can substantially bolster their willingness to participate. Simultaneously, the development of tailored training programs and the provision of essential tools are indispensable for empowering farmers to proficiently maintain the trees.
The significance of carbon credits within the system primarily lies in compensating cooperating and financial parties, as farmers prioritise other benefits. The institutional system's challenges, particularly in securing land tenure documents, pose substantial feasibility hurdles for the system's viability. In future research on this topic, it would be valuable to seek the insights of traditional authorities. ...
Climate change is a pressing concern affecting the livelihoods of farmers in Ghana's Ashanti region due to erratic rainfall patterns, primarily impacting rain-fed agriculture. This research explores the potential of carbon credits to encourage smallholder farmers in the Ashanti region to adopt agroforestry practices as a solution. Agroforestry, if effectively implemented, not only helps combat climate change by capturing carbon but also improves soil fertility, protects crops from extreme weather, and offers various benefits to local farmers. This study delves into the complexities of this issue to propose innovative solutions benefiting both the local farming community and the global climate challenge.
The carbon-based agroforestry system consists of three main parts: the carbon credit system, the institutional system, and the socio-technical system. To study this complex system, we adopt an illustrative case study approach, focusing on the Ashanti region in Ghana. Our research follows a top-down approach, beginning with comprehensive desk research to build a foundational understanding, followed by in-depth interviews with local farmers and selected experts, including government agencies and an NGO, to gain a nuanced understanding of the Ashanti region's context.
Taking into account the carbon credit system, significant attention is devoted to crafting a project framework that aligns with rigorous carbon standards. The accumulation of carbon credits over time serves as a means to secure initial investments. Farmer involvement, particularly their commitment, assumes paramount importance in the context of the carbon credit system, given that only mature trees can generate carbon credits. Primary risks pertain to tree cutting or tree mortality. To mitigate these risks, farmers need comprehensive training and access to essential tools for tree maintenance.
The land tenure system in the Ashanti region is notably complex, predominantly relying on the customary framework. Insights garnered from farmer interviews underscore the pronounced tenure insecurity that impedes farmer participation in the system. Securing land tenure documents is pivotal to instilling confidence among farmers regarding the equitable distribution of system benefits. Notably, varying farmer characteristics and specific traditional areas wield varying degrees of influence over land tenure security and the complexity of acquiring such documents. For system feasibility, a targeted approach focusing on engaging landowners and dispelling misconceptions while emphasising the advantages of land tenure documents is essential. Incentivising landowners through a share of the carbon revenue may also be necessary to ensure their active participation.
Farmers in the Ashanti region grapple with diverse challenges, stemming from erratic rainfall patterns, pest infestations, weed proliferation, and soil nutrient depletion. These challenges are compounded by financial constraints, exacerbating the farmers' livelihood struggles. Notably, farmers place a higher premium on the tangible benefits of increased fruit tree yields as the primary incentive for system participation, displaying comparatively lesser interest in the intangible monetary returns from carbon credits. Effective communication with farmers necessitates addressing their immediate concerns. Consequently, the agroforestry system should be designed to incorporate intercropped fruit trees, delivering additional yields while preserving the cultural significance of existing crops and optimising the environmental advantages of the system. Given that farmers predominantly learn through visual exposure, the initiation of a pilot agroforestry system can substantially bolster their willingness to participate. Simultaneously, the development of tailored training programs and the provision of essential tools are indispensable for empowering farmers to proficiently maintain the trees.
The significance of carbon credits within the system primarily lies in compensating cooperating and financial parties, as farmers prioritise other benefits. The institutional system's challenges, particularly in securing land tenure documents, pose substantial feasibility hurdles for the system's viability. In future research on this topic, it would be valuable to seek the insights of traditional authorities.
The carbon-based agroforestry system consists of three main parts: the carbon credit system, the institutional system, and the socio-technical system. To study this complex system, we adopt an illustrative case study approach, focusing on the Ashanti region in Ghana. Our research follows a top-down approach, beginning with comprehensive desk research to build a foundational understanding, followed by in-depth interviews with local farmers and selected experts, including government agencies and an NGO, to gain a nuanced understanding of the Ashanti region's context.
Taking into account the carbon credit system, significant attention is devoted to crafting a project framework that aligns with rigorous carbon standards. The accumulation of carbon credits over time serves as a means to secure initial investments. Farmer involvement, particularly their commitment, assumes paramount importance in the context of the carbon credit system, given that only mature trees can generate carbon credits. Primary risks pertain to tree cutting or tree mortality. To mitigate these risks, farmers need comprehensive training and access to essential tools for tree maintenance.
The land tenure system in the Ashanti region is notably complex, predominantly relying on the customary framework. Insights garnered from farmer interviews underscore the pronounced tenure insecurity that impedes farmer participation in the system. Securing land tenure documents is pivotal to instilling confidence among farmers regarding the equitable distribution of system benefits. Notably, varying farmer characteristics and specific traditional areas wield varying degrees of influence over land tenure security and the complexity of acquiring such documents. For system feasibility, a targeted approach focusing on engaging landowners and dispelling misconceptions while emphasising the advantages of land tenure documents is essential. Incentivising landowners through a share of the carbon revenue may also be necessary to ensure their active participation.
Farmers in the Ashanti region grapple with diverse challenges, stemming from erratic rainfall patterns, pest infestations, weed proliferation, and soil nutrient depletion. These challenges are compounded by financial constraints, exacerbating the farmers' livelihood struggles. Notably, farmers place a higher premium on the tangible benefits of increased fruit tree yields as the primary incentive for system participation, displaying comparatively lesser interest in the intangible monetary returns from carbon credits. Effective communication with farmers necessitates addressing their immediate concerns. Consequently, the agroforestry system should be designed to incorporate intercropped fruit trees, delivering additional yields while preserving the cultural significance of existing crops and optimising the environmental advantages of the system. Given that farmers predominantly learn through visual exposure, the initiation of a pilot agroforestry system can substantially bolster their willingness to participate. Simultaneously, the development of tailored training programs and the provision of essential tools are indispensable for empowering farmers to proficiently maintain the trees.
The significance of carbon credits within the system primarily lies in compensating cooperating and financial parties, as farmers prioritise other benefits. The institutional system's challenges, particularly in securing land tenure documents, pose substantial feasibility hurdles for the system's viability. In future research on this topic, it would be valuable to seek the insights of traditional authorities.
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 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.
...
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 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.
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.
...
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.
Analysis of Entrepreneurship Competencies' development among students
The assessment of entrepreneurship compentencies’ using the EntreComp framework among students for Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in entrepreneurial education among students, emphasizing the significance of an entrepreneurial mindset. Introducing the EnteComp framework in 2016 has provided a standardized approach for evaluating interdisciplinary competences in students. This study aims to address this issue by examining the optimal utilization and integration of the EntreComp framework in the educational practices of Delft Center for Entrepreneurship (DCE). By conducting a comprehensive literature review and analyzing data from a large-scale survey involving 119 questions among DCE students, the research investigates the most effective methods for measuring the development of entrepreneurship competences among students. The findings indicate EntreComp offers a shared language and a holistic approach for assessing entrepreneurial competences. The analysis also reveals a lack of consensus and practical implementation in utilizing the EntreComp framework. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the longitudinal development of EntreComp competencies over time and to employ various survey types and statistical tests to make the use of EntreComp more common.
...
...
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in entrepreneurial education among students, emphasizing the significance of an entrepreneurial mindset. Introducing the EnteComp framework in 2016 has provided a standardized approach for evaluating interdisciplinary competences in students. This study aims to address this issue by examining the optimal utilization and integration of the EntreComp framework in the educational practices of Delft Center for Entrepreneurship (DCE). By conducting a comprehensive literature review and analyzing data from a large-scale survey involving 119 questions among DCE students, the research investigates the most effective methods for measuring the development of entrepreneurship competences among students. The findings indicate EntreComp offers a shared language and a holistic approach for assessing entrepreneurial competences. The analysis also reveals a lack of consensus and practical implementation in utilizing the EntreComp framework. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the longitudinal development of EntreComp competencies over time and to employ various survey types and statistical tests to make the use of EntreComp more common.
Implementation of Product Service Systems by Technical Services Providers in the Industrial Sector
An in depth case study conducted at EQUANS Nederland N.V.
In this thesis, a research project is conducted to help technical service providers (TSP) that are active in the energy transition of the industrial sector implement Product Service System (PSS) business models. An analytical framework is created to identify success factors for the implementation of PSS business models.
...
In this thesis, a research project is conducted to help technical service providers (TSP) that are active in the energy transition of the industrial sector implement Product Service System (PSS) business models. An analytical framework is created to identify success factors for the implementation of PSS business models.
Digital transformation in traditional companies
Combining ambidexterity and dynamic capability perspectives
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.
...
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.
...
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.
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.
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. ...
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.
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
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. ...
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. ...
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.
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.