Congestion remains a great problem for ports, and while call sizes on the sea transport side continue to increase, peak loads and congestion will increase as well. As barge transport accounts for 34% of hinterland container transport and ports aim to increase this modal split share, solutions to congestion are indispensable. One of the identified solutions for solving congestion is hub-and-spoke based consolidation hub models. Through bundling and sorting of hinterland container flows, hubs can offer increased call sizes, more efficient handling, and increased stability in the hinterland transport chain. This thesis aims to investigate the feasibility of inland waterway consolidation hubs by developing a structured feasibility assessment framework. The thesis project follows a double diamond research structure to guide this process. During the research phase, the most important factors influencing the feasibility of consolidation hubs are identified through a literature study and stakeholder interviews. During the design phase, a feasibility assessment framework is created through the development of a benchmark Business Model Canvas. This benchmark Business Model Canvas is subsequently transformed into a feasibility assessment framework and applied to the Markiezaat Container Terminal in development by H.Essers logistics. The results highlight that consolidation hubs have significant potential to improve hinterland waterway transport efficiency, but their feasibility depends on access to fixed windows, communication and cooperation between hinterland actors, and robust IT systems. ... Read more

The Dutch dairy farming sector is facing an acute nitrogen crisis, characterized by severe ecological degradation and a political impasse since the 2019 PAS ruling. The PAS rule was found illegal because it relied on uncertain future measures and with that outcome it halted thousands of nitrogen permits for built projects. While barn-based nitrogen cleaning technologies are available in the market, their large-scale adoption has not taken place due to institutional uncertainty and an unclear investment framework. This research addresses the lack of the adoption of the technological innovations.The existing literature on agricultural innovation lacks an integrated, empirical model that includes all relevant adoption factors. Moreover, there is a lack of quantification of the importance of these factors in the Dutch nitrogen context. The research is specifically designed to establish the hierarchy of the factors and to highlight the role of the different stakeholders. A literature analysis with the PRISMA method resulted in a framework of fourteen adoption factors, categorized into four domains: innovation characteristics, farm characteristics, farmer and external influences. The Best Worst Method was then applied to quantify the weights of these factors among different groups of stakeholders: general experts, financial specialists and dairy farmers. Qualitative interviews were used to contextualize the BWM results and explain structural differences in decision-making. Adoption is primarily determined by institutional and financial factors. The most decisive determinants are Government Incentives (0.18), Expected Profitability (0.15), Coercive Pressure (0.14) and Trust (0.12). Initial Costs (0.06) are ranked relatively low which could be explained because of net value investment decisions that are made. The analysis also shows structural differences as experts focus on bankability and system security. Meanwhile farmers prioritize operational feasibility and compatibility with existing routines and liquidity needs. Adoption requires connecting the operational and financial thresholds of the stakeholders. The industry has not yet adopted a dominant technological design, which shows that regulatory and the reliability of verification standards are decisive for technological diffusion. This is more important than the technical superiority or the initial cost of the innovation. This research contributes to the management of technology literature by identifying the factors for technology adoption for agricultural innovation for the Dutch nitrogen context. ... Read more

The results show a clear shift in priorities as autonomy increases. At DOA 2, the analysis shows that ’Investment, Development & Operational Costs’ and ’Economic & Business Advantages’ are the top priorities for shipowners, reflecting a cautious, financially driven approach when human oversight still mitigates technological risk. However, at DOA 3 and DOA 4, where human presence is removed, the emphasis shifts toward "Technological Maturity & Reliability" and "Regulatory & Legal Framework." This highlights that in fully autonomous environments, reliable technology and well-defined rules on liability and operations become critical. Across all autonomy levels, “Emergency Response Capability” remains a consistently high priority, reinforcing industry concerns about safety in uncrewed operations. Factors such as "Human-Capital Readiness", "Port Infrastructure Readiness", "Standardization", and "Insurance & Premiums", while necessary, rank lower at all autonomy levels.
When examining the deployment contexts, the study finds that coastal and inland routes are the most viable for early MASS implementation. These settings offer shorter distances, more stable environments, and clearer regulatory jurisdictions. DOA 2 is seen as the most practical starting point especially for trans-ocean shipping, where the need for onboard maintenance and intervention remains high. Among vessel types, containerships and Ro-Ro vessels are identified as the most suitable for early adoption due to their operational predictability and compatibility with smart port infrastructure.
This thesis advances the literature by showing that adoption drivers differ systematically across autonomy levels.
This insight extends innovation adoption theory by highlighting the role of human presence in perceived risk. Unlike previous studies that evaluated autonomous shipping as a single category, this thesis emphasizes that each level of autonomy presents unique challenges and priorities. Finally, adoption will not follow a linear path but will depend on matching the right technologies with the right operational contexts. By capturing expert insights and providing level-specific analysis, this thesis offers a practical roadmap for shipowners, policymakers, and technology developers to introduce autonomous shipping. ... Read more

Ensuring workplace safety and providing guidelines to the organization, safety standards play a crucial role. These standards enhance employee well-being and improve operational performance. But even though these standards exist the question lies with the inconsistent adoption and implementation success. And this raises a question about what factors drive these processes and how we can influence these factors to better support improving workplace safety.
Substantial research has been done on quality and compatibility standards adoption, but the research on safety standards remains limited, fragmented and unclear about the difference between adoption and implementation. This research addresses this gap by aiming to identify factors that influence these two distinct stages of adoption and implementation. While the current literature struggles to distinguish these stages, this research defines them clearly setting a guideline. Adoption is defined as internal decision by a company to encompass, whether to use or not use a safety standard, choosing between different available safety standards. Implementation is defined as the process of integrating the chosen safety standard into organizational operations. i.e. integration in the (safety) management systems such that the company complies with the chosen standard. Further, this research also evaluates the relative significance of these factors and explores how the most important factors can be influenced by different stakeholders. Thus, it provides organizations and policymakers with actionable insights to promote safer and more resilient workplaces.
A 3-step methodology was used for this research. First, to identify the factors influencing the adoption and implementation of safety standards, a systematic literature review and exploratory investigation were conducted. The factors were organized into two frameworks: one for adoption (13 factors grouped under four categories) and one for implementation (6 factors). The adoption factors divided into 4 categories, included External Influence (Regulatory Pressure, Value Chain Pressure, Broader Societal Pressure), Firm Characteristics (Management Commitment, Resources), Company Goals (Image, Operational Efficiency, Safe Working Environment, Cost Savings, Global expansion) and Standard Characteristics (Quality, Compatibility, Cost). For implementation, the factors relate to Commitment (from all the levels of the company), Communication & Training, Continuous Improvement Mechanisms, Resources, Compatibility with the Company, and Government Support.

The second step of the research used the Best Worst Method (BWM) to quantify the relative importance of each factor with the help of experts. The results show that the Management Commitment and Regulatory Pressure are the most significant factors in adoption, while Commitment and Communication & Training are key for implementation.
In the third step, a literature review was conducted, and the experts were interviewed to identify the stakeholders influencing the top 2 ranked factors from both adoption and implementation frameworks. This step also focused on providing insights on how these highly important factors can be influenced. The findings show that these factors are influenced by various stakeholders: governments provide external pressure, top leadership drives internal prioritization, and middle management shapes implementation through engagement and awareness. These findings align with institutional theory, emphasizing coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures in shaping organizational behavior.
The practical implications of this research are twofold. Policy makers can use the findings to develop more targeted regulatory policies, provide incentives, and offer support mechanisms tailored to organizational needs, particularly for SMEs. The key recommendations for policymakers include:
• Use financial incentives such as tax benefits or grants to encourage adoption.
• Offer subsidized training programs and access to safety equipment or consultancy services, helping overcome internal capability gaps in SMEs.
• Promote recognition programs (e.g., safety awards) that link compliance to public image and reputation.
• Support benchmarking and performance transparency by publishing industry-wide safety metrics.
Managers, on the other hand, can better structure their internal strategies by aligning safety goals with business objectives, improving training programs, and enabling open communication across levels. The recommendations for managers include:
• Frame safety as a strategic priority, not just a compliance requirement. Integrate safety-related KPIs into performance evaluation and business continuity planning.
• Develop a formal commitment strategy that links goals, resource allocation, and contingency planning. This ensures alignment and accountability.
• Empower middle management and safety officers to act as translators of safety vision into daily operations. Provide them with authority, tools, and training to lead implementation.
• Appoint individuals with strong safety values and past industry experience. These champions can help shape safety culture and mentor others.
• Foster involvement by enabling employee participation through safety committees, open communication channels, and continuous feedback loops.
• Benchmark safety performance against industry peers and learn from leaders.
• Ensure continuity by embedding safety into onboarding and leadership development programs, sustaining commitment even during organizational transitions.
In conclusion, this research offers a structured and actionable understanding of what drives safety standard adoption and implementation. By separating the two phases, identifying key influencing factors, and highlighting stakeholder roles, the study contributes to academic theory and provides practical value for creating safer organizational environments.
... Read more

Deep tech (DT) startups possess transformative potential but face distinct challenges, including long R&D cycles, high capital demands, and a focus on non-consumer markets. This research reveals that conventional incubation models, often tailored to agile startups, fall short in meeting the specific needs of DT ventures. Through a multi-case study of Dutch DT startups, this study finds that incubators must adjust their strategies to align with the DT lifecycle, particularly emphasizing business access over generic support... ... Read more

This thesis investigates the impact of stakeholder characteristics on the market adoption of standards within the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) sector. It consists of a literature review, an empirical analysis, exploration of influence mechanisms and a discussion on the results. There are three main topics that are discussed in this thesis: Standardisation is a cooperation among industry, consumers, public authorities and other interested parties for the development of technical specifications; Stakeholders are organisations or individuals that have an interest or influence in the standardisation process. Stakeholders can be entities like customers, investors, and governments. Theory (de Vries et al., 2003) points out that a balanced representation of stakeholders is vital for the quality of standards; The Internet of Things (IoT) involves devices and systems that (need to) communicate and operate seamlessly together. This requirement for interoperability has led to a significant number of standards and protocols competing for dominance. This thesis focuses on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). IIoT shows great potential in industrial application, for example in harbours, production facilities, and warehouses.

The literature review explores academic sources like Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and SciSearch. The search strategy included keywords focusing on standardisation, stakeholder influence, and IIoT to identify studies commenting on the respective (or interplay of) these factors. From these studies, it was revealed that large multinational corporations dominate standardisation processes, often imposing proprietary standards that inhibit interoperability, limit accessibility, and create barriers for smaller entities. Regulatory bodies, while central to ensuring standards align with public interests, frequently struggle to keep pace with rapid technological evolution, leaving significant gaps in security, data privacy, and compatibility. Additionally, literature showed us that common standards are difficult to reach due to problems with stakeholder infrastructure, as multiple researchers have laid foundation to further research stakeholder infrastructures in standardisation. Hence the reason this thesis will aim to investigate the patterns that stakeholder characteristics and infrastructure have with the emergence of common standards. This led to the main research question:

• To what extent do stakeholder characteristics influence the development of technological standards in industrial IoT?"

To answer the main research question, two sub-questions were formulated:

• How does the classification of stakeholders—organized into a matrix based on their levels of power, legitimacy, and urgency—affect the emergence of technological standards in IIoT?

• How can policymakers, researchers, or businesses influence stakeholders to shape the standardization process in Industrial IIoT?

The first sub question aims to be answered by an empirical analysis. This analysis focusses on eight IIoT standardisation cases across the four different phases in IIoT: data ingestion (where IIoT sensors collect data from the environment, like temperature), data transmission (where data is transmitted to a local or cloud solution), data processing (where data is processed, e.g. aggregated or decrypted), and data utilisation (which often involves human-computer interaction and an application: presents dashboards \& insights). For each phase, two standards were selected, one with market adoption and one without. The cases were:

1) Data Ingestion:\\
• RFID UHF (adopted)\\
• Zephyr Project (not adopted)

2) Data Transmission:\\
• LoRaWAN (adopted)\\
• Sigfox (not adopted)

3) Data Processing:\\
• EPCIS (adopted)\\
• UPnP (not adopted)

4) Data Utilisation:\\
• Ignition (adopted)\\
• GE Predix (not adopted)

The methodology employed an approach based on de Vries et al. (2003), using nine search directions, like production firms, end-users and regulators. After identification of the stakeholders, they are classified according to their power, legitimacy, and urgency in the standardisation process. The research combined desk research, case studies, and expert interviews to gather data about stakeholder characteristics. The extensive empirical research led to a collection of sixteen tables showing the involved stakeholders and their power, urgency and legitimacy to the standard. This output was summarised in a large table to detect patterns in whether certain types of stakeholders contributed positively or negatively to the market adoption of a standard. The patterns that arise from the empirical analysis are:

1) End-user engagement is essential: End users and related organisations are more prevalent in standards with market adoption. Their involvement as dominant or definitive stakeholders contributes significantly to the adoption and implementation of the standard.

2) Dangerous stakeholders hinder adoption: In 3 out of 4 standards without market adoption, there is at least one dangerous stakeholder. Their presence correlates with the lack of adoption, indicating that stakeholders who have power and urgency but lack legitimacy can create obstacles in the standardisation process.

3) Definitive stakeholders drive market adoption: Standards with market adoption have a higher average number of definitive stakeholders (4) compared to those without market adoption (1.75). This suggests that the involvement of stakeholders possessing power, urgency, and legitimacy is crucial for a standard's success in the market.

4) Higher stakeholder participation in adopted standards: Standards that have been adopted in the market involve more stakeholders on average (11.25) compared to those without market adoption (7.5). Broad stakeholder participation enhances the standard's credibility and acceptance.

5) Absence of stakeholders with only power or urgency: Stakeholders possessing only power (type E) or only urgency (type G) do not appear in the table. This absence indicates that power or urgency alone is insufficient to impact standard adoption.

These patterns are subsequently translated into policy recommendations on how to influence the standardisation process. This was done to answer sub question 2. To influence stakeholders and improve standardisation efforts, the research identified policy recommendations:

1) Stimulating end-user engagement through:\\
• Creating well-established stakeholder groups\\
• Eliminating fees for participation\\
• Offering free consultation on standardisation efforts

2) Managing dangerous stakeholders by:\\
• Finding ways for them to participate with approval from other stakeholders\\
• Implementing review mechanisms through special committees

3) Increasing stakeholder participation by:\\
• Focusing on quality over quantity in standardisation efforts\\
• Providing resources to enhance stakeholder capabilities\\
• Creating regulatory frameworks that prioritise standardisation

The discussion highlights that the findings from this thesis align with previous research emphasising the importance of user engagement. According to a professor expert on the matter, the caveat is that this is only beneficial when users can provide clear, unambiguous requirements. Also, the methodology used in this thesis represents a novel application of de Vries' 2003 stakeholder identification method, particularly in creating a stakeholder/standard matrix. Other than this thesis, the methodology has been applied in a few other scholarly cases and by Professor van de Kaa. At last, the discussion tells that the research contributes to standardisation literature by empirically analysing market adoption across multiple cases. Important aspects are the confirmation of the importance of end-user engagement and the identification of dangerous stakeholders as a threat to standardisation.

Future recommendations of the study include the need for further research on effective methods for involving end-users in standardisation processes, particularly through empirical studies. Also, further investigation of mechanisms to identify and manage dangerous stakeholders is important, as this remains underexplored in current literature. With concerns to the methodology applied, application of the stakeholder identification and classification method across different sectors would validate its broader applicability. Because of the dynamic environment of stakeholders, standardisation and IIoT, longitudinal studies are advised to capture how standards evolve with technological advancement and changing stakeholder dynamics. At last, more research on how to increase stakeholder salience levels and the impact this has on standardisation success is advised. ... Read more

About a century ago, scientists began to investigate standardization, a phenomenon that has characterized civilizations since ancient times. Throughout history, individuals and organizations needed to develop common technical specifications and use them repeatedly to achieve coordination across a wide range of contexts. Early examples of standards include common units of measurement and the specification of exchange currencies. Their reach grew dramatically with the standardization of assembly lines in factories during the first industrial revolution, and today standards permeate our lives, from standardized paper sizes to freight containers, from test methods for product safety to physical and digital standardized interfaces for our computers.
The development of standardization research underwent three main stages. First, standardization research formed a standalone academic discipline, mostly connected to management and engineering. Later, it evolved into a multidisciplinary scientific field, especially with the surge of environmental, sociological, and legal investigations on standards. Nowadays, standardization can be considered in all effects an interdisciplinary scientific field. The progressive use of interdisciplinary approaches (i.e., combining elements of two or more disciplines in the same studies) is uncovering a set of common theories (which science philosopher Imre Lakatos called “protective belts”) about the process of standardization, from the development of standards to their adoption and impact.
However, the development of standardization research is not linear, since the divergence of approaches and terminologies employed by the different research communities is undermining the consistency of the field. This dissertation aims to bring order to this “interdisciplinary” stage of this development. It does so through a twofold research objective: first, it aims to explore the extent to which research on standardization is interdisciplinary; second, it aims to illustrate possible avenues for interdisciplinary research. For this purpose, the dissertation adopts a multi-method approach that spans from literature-based research (both bibliometric and conceptual) to quantitative and qualitative research... ... Read more

Responsible innovation considers the impact of a new process/product on society and the environment. It mainly refers to collaboration and communication between parties to obtain an ethically acceptable, sustainable, and socially desirable innovation. This study focuses on the factors influencing the implementing the RI framework, which consists of Anticipation, Inclusion, Reflexivity, and Responsiveness within start-ups.

The following research question has been investigated: ‘’Which factors affect the implementation of Responsible Innovation dimensions in start-ups.’’ ... Read more

The aim of this research is to gain an understanding of the balance between guideline standardisation and professional autonomy. This includes its impact on the safety and quality of healthcare. These are crucial aspects of providing good care as they can contribute to an overall healthcare system that is effective, reliable, and patient-centered. The reason for performing this research is the difficulty of finding a balance between guideline standardisation and professional autonomy. While guideline standardisation is crucial to ensure a structured approach to uniform care of high quality, professional autonomy is necessary to individualise this care for each patient. At times, the tension between these aspects arises as medical practitioners feel limited in their professional autonomy, but healthcare organisations require a structural set-up of healthcare systems to provide equal care.

By performing interviews with guideline developers, doctors, and patients, this tension and possible contributing factors were explored through a technical, human, and organisational perspective. The identification of a need for the inclusion of the psychosocial elements, research regarding sensitivity around professional autonomy, and structural changes is beneficial to get to a point where it is possible to identify a balance between guideline standardisation and professional autonomy and its impact on the safety and quality of care. While multiple points for further research are indicated in this study, these three factors contribute to improving the situation of both the tension itself and the discussions around it.
... Read more

Standardisation plays a crucial role in driving long-term productivity, competitive growth, and innovation in various industries. Its primary objective is to streamline processes by establishing consensus among different stakeholders, such as firms, users, academia and governments. Standards provide classifications such as quality, compatibility, safety, or measurements to ensure that products and procedures meet specific requirements and can be reliably used across different domains. In spite of the importance of standardisation, there is a lot to learn about the factors that influence standard success. As of now, literature in this field is mostly exploratory in nature. This study investigates the factors influencing the success of standardisation efforts, in particular, it examines the impact of technological diversity and geographical diversity within standard setting organisations (SSOs) or standards consortia on achieving standard success. Additionally, the study explores the role of the size of these SSOs or standards consortia in influencing the likelihood of standard success. Next to that, the influence of the definition of standard success is also examined, by providing three different theoretical definitions for standard success. This study adds on to the literature by providing larger scale qualitative research in an attempt to better understand the dynamics of standard success. In this study an original dataset was created of standards consortia in the context of Renewable Energy (RE) and Sustainability, Efficiency, and Green Initiatives (SEG). The chosen context is significant for addressing the global climate problem, a complex and multifaceted wicked problem that requires collaborative efforts. Therefore, the understanding of which factors influence the success of standards is essential to tackle climate change's adverse impacts. Standards are important in providing universal guidelines, products and protocols that are needed to combat climate change. The results indicate the presence of a U-shaped relationship between technological diversity and standards success, this result has not yet been found earlier and implies that instead of an optimum range of diversity, managers should to be at either extreme end of the technological diversity spectrum. Moreover, we observe a positive relationship between consortium size and standard success, meaning that whenever possible, managers should aim to increase consortium size. This study provides a better understanding of how the characteristics of standards consortia influence standard success which can also aid managers in making well-educated choices when setting up standards consortia. ... Read more

Anthropogenic climate change has led to irreversible Sea level rise (SLR), underscoring the urgency to implement adaptation measures. With there being a series of challenges to implement SLR adaptation, international standardisation emerges out to be a solution to address these challenges. In this research, an attempt is made to identify SLR adaptation measures that could be globally standardised using a consensus-based approach. The methodology for the research is a combination of desk-research and the Delphi method – involving rounds of surveys with an expert panel to reach consensus – that run a sequential manner. The research also aims at demonstrating the Delphi method as a cost-effective and time-saving method to develop adaptation standards. The research is able to develop a synthesis of a comprehensive list of adaptation measures that are in turn posed as the candidates to be standardised. A total of six adaptation measures attain consensus that include: (1) early warning systems, (2) seawalls, (3) levees, (4) sandbags, (5) dikes and (6) breakwaters. These adaptation options are chosen based on the identified meta-criteria developed as part of the results of the Delphi study. The meta-criteria is based on the reasons to develop an adaptation measure into standard and assesses three key themes that checks if an adaptation measure: (1) is a technical measure, (2) has a pre-existing methodology or standard that could be revised or newly drafted for SLR adaptation and (3) has a global data stream that could facilitate SLR based data sharing, collection and interoperability. These identified measures help in prioritising the adaptation measures that could be globally standardised. A key theme for the opposition of standardisation found in the literature and substantiated by the expert inputs is found to be of location-specific considerations for SLR adaptation implementation. Thus, to address such an apprehension of the panellists, the study makes crucial theoretical contribution to include an explanation to the relevance of standardisation to the challenges with SLR adaptation implementation. Furthermore, to propose and demonstrate the adoption of the Delphi method as a starting point to identify suitable options that could be standardised, the research develops an understanding of consensus in standardisation vis-‘a-vis the Delphi method. The study’s main limitations arise out of the limited numbers of rounds conducted that leave room for increasing the consensus levels for adaptation options as well as the missing interactions between the panellists that could have further added to the findings. Based on the findings the study provides three actionable policy recommendations to support the process of SLR international standardisation – (1) develop a consistent global language for SLR adaptation strategies and measures, including a classification of these measures, (2) raise awareness about the significance of standardisation in SLR adaptation among the world-wide community of stakeholders in this field, (3) establish a global platform for sharing appropriate SLR information usable across various adaptation measures. The study concludes with acknowledging that SLR adaptation global standards so developed need to be flexible and adaptive in order to incorporate location-specific considerations for each of the adaptation measures. ... Read more

Industries are adopting new practices and innovating globally in response to climate change. The EU has set targets for carbon neutrality by 2050, and the maritime industry has been included in the EU Emissions Trading System, requiring shipping companies to purchase carbon permits for their emissions. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by 50% by 2050. However, there are concerns about the feasibility of these targets. Onboard carbon capture (OCC) is considered a promising technology to support CO₂ reduction, but current standards are lacking or undefined, limiting adoption. This thesis therefore examines how stakeholders influence standard development for OCC in the maritime sector.

The research question is: “How do onboard carbon capture stakeholders influence the standardisation process in the maritime industry?”

A systematic approach for stakeholder identification, classification, and mapping of the standardisation process was developed, extending an existing method. Classification is based on power, legitimacy, and urgency, and the process is divided into predefined phases. The methodology consists of nine steps, developed and validated through expert review. Eight semi-structured interviews and qualitative case study data on OCC were used.

Eighty-seven stakeholders were identified, including multinational companies, start-ups, governmental bodies, classification societies, shipowners, and technology providers. Most stakeholders are based in Europe, while OCC projects are concentrated in Japan, South Korea, Norway, and the Netherlands. Shipowners, shipping companies, and technology providers are dependent on governmental support, while governments show limited urgency for OCC standardisation.

The maritime sector relies strongly on industry initiatives and consortia rather than formal standardisation bodies such as ISO, CEN, and NEN. Two processes were identified: safety/functional and environmental standardisation. Safety/functional standards are led by classification societies with iterative industry input, while environmental standards are government-led and consensus-driven, making them slower.

Lobbying and early collaboration with classification societies are key to influencing standards. Stakeholder mapping shows clear differences in power and dependency relations, and highlights bottlenecks in environmental standardisation.

This research provides a structured method for managers to identify stakeholders and select strategies such as lobbying. It also supports policymakers and standardisation bodies in improving stakeholder inclusion and policy design.

Limitations include the simplified assessment of stakeholder power, potential distortion from broad categorisation, and limited replicability due to anonymised interviews.

This study extends stakeholder theory by introducing a structured visual mapping of the standardisation process. The model combines identification, classification, and process mapping into one framework, allowing analysis of stakeholder roles, relationships, and influence patterns. ... Read more

This thesis serves as an attempt to establish the initial empirical linkage between environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and startup valuation by venture capitalists. While substantial academic work has addressed the ESG topic and how firms’ ESG characteristics impact their financial performance and valuations, relatively little ink has been spilled on the issue in the entrepreneurial finance literature. An important impediment for researchers and for investors in the entrepreneurial finance markets wanting to adopt the practice of responsible investing has been the lack of a unified framework for the assessment and quantification of startups’ ESG characteristics. This thesis proposes a startup ESG framework that is based on the status quo of existing ESG frameworks and related literature. The study then analyses a proprietary dataset of 47 technological startups that seek funding from the Dutch venture capital (VC) firm FORWARD.one, to empirically investigate whether the positive relationship between firms’ ESG characteristics and financial valuation, found in the public market setting and the crowdfunding and token offering setting, also holds in the VC context. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis and Independent Sample t-Tests are used to examine the impact of the startups’ ESG risk scores on their financial valuations. The results indicate that the amount of ESG risk in a startup is negatively correlated to its financial valuation, meaning that venture capitalists do value startups’ ESG characteristics. As a result also those entrepreneurs that seek funding from venture capitalists have an economic incentive to work on their sustainability performance. However, this study finds that sustainability performance is only valued to the extent that it concerns ESG risk management, i.e. minimizing ESG-related negative externalities. The creation of ESG-related positive externalities is not valued by purely financially driven venture capitalists. The study does not attempt to establish a causal mechanism. The findings contributes to the still emergent literature around the role of ESG in entrepreneurial finance markets and several promising avenues for further research are suggested. ... Read more

Innovators are increasingly called upon to help resolve societal challenges such as pandemics, climate change, and social injustice. The complexity, uncertainty, and contestation associated with such wicked problems require them to leverage approaches that help navigate normative and epistemic considerations for decision-making. A large number of scholars and practitioners believe that the procedural approach of Responsible Innovation could offer this. Responsible Innovation aims to align innovations with societal values and worldviews through forms of anticipation, inclusion, reflexivity, and responsiveness. Early anticipatory and reflexive deliberations subsequently provide an understanding of what decisions and outcomes are deemed ethically acceptable in light of uncertainty. This dissertation explores the usefulness of some approaches applied by Responsible Innovation in tackling wicked problems. It suggests that Responsible Innovation paradoxically fosters collaborations while also revealing contestation, and that innovators will need to leverage boundary objects and combine complementary approaches to deal with the (multi-scalar) conflict that is attributed to societal challenges. ... Read more

During the last decade, there have been numerous pledges to reduce emissions. Europe has pledged to reach Net Zero in 2050: every projection to reach the target includes carbon capture technologies. A critical issue for the contribution of these technologies to achieve net zero targets is the transport of CO2 from sources to sinks, wherefore the development of an extensive European carbon transport infrastructure is required due to the scarce geographical availability of sinks. Since CO2 transport is capital intensive, this research proposal focuses on the identification of potential options of finance for the different CO2 transport assets and how these affect the cost of capital, as well as the implications for the overall cost of carbon transport. The research takes a mixed methods approach, combining a thorough literature review, financial modelling and semi-structured interviews with experts. The research focuses on a large-distance route in Europe, with an assumed time horizon starting from 2030 onwards. The results show that depending on the transport asset, distance and quantity transported the financing costs can play a key role and different financing structures can change the merit order in terms of costs. Future research should focus on developing this model for a European transport network. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

In order to combat the global climate crisis, our energy provision needs to be decarbonized. One of the potential methods that can help is Green Hydrogen Energy Storage (GHES). GHES is a complex technology/energy carrier combination. It comprises of a conversion process of renewable electricity to hydrogen to then be used for conversion back to electricity at times of high electricity demand and low renewable supply e.g., in winter. Describing sociotechnical imaginaries on this technology/energy carrier combination can provide better alignment of the technology/energy carrier combination with the normative ideas of actors & stakeholders. The research question is thus formulated as: “What are the different sociotechnical imaginaries of green hydrogen energy storage (GHES) in the Netherlands?” These sociotechnical imaginaries will be described by using Q method. The scientific relevance is twofold. First, insight into the conflicting and overlapping imaginaries on this topic. Second, methodological because Q method is relatively new for studying sociotechnical imaginaries. The master Management of Technology is organized around technology, innovation, organization, commercialization, engineering economics, research, and reflection. Research and reflection are by design embedded in this research thesis and technology and innovation are connected because the aim of the thesis is to describe the sociotechnical imaginaries of GHES in the Netherlands and to have that knowledge be utilized by the stakeholders to better align the technology to the sociotechnical imaginaries. And finally, organization relates to the industry stakeholders who will be aware of desired technology futures and can innovate towards those desired futures. The imaginaries have been named: [1] “We are hydrogen-optimistic and critically realistic”, [2] “Hydrogen: a driver for economic opportunity”, [3] “We’re not excited”, [4] “Welcome state intervention”, and [5] “Hydrogen storage is the way to go but be aware of big industry”. The first imaginary mainly describes how hydrogen should be a part of the energy mix, not the sole solution. The second imaginary emphasizes the economic opportunity that GHES can have with an emphasis on cooperation between parties. The third imaginary shows that there are respondents who feel concerned for climate change, but don’t see hydrogen as a solution at all. The fourth imaginary sees government intervention as the only way to facilitate this transition. The final imaginary shows that there is a concern for social implications on who will benefit from the transition towards GHES. Practical and theoretical implications are subsequently formulated to better align the technology/energy carrier combination to the normative ideas of stakeholders. According to the respondents, the case looks promising for GHES as there is agreement on GHES becoming a part of the Dutch energy mix. Methods of achieving this goal are e.g., a higher fossil fuel tax, development of technology standards, and the need for international cooperation. Furthermore, conflict items are defined, as is also the goal of Q method, the degree of the focus of economic development, the role of the government to guide and intervene, and the focus on the social implications of the transition towards GHES. These conflict items could be addressed according to an agonistic approach by utilizing social learning and reflexive governance. These practices defined in the literature that have gained eminence and are becoming more accepted. Pertaining to the theoretical implications, sociotechnical imaginaries as a concept fall short of describing the normative future visions as expressed by the respondents. Other scholars have also recognized that the concept might miss diversity in future visions because of its singular interpretation. However, it has been proven possible to, in a quantitative manner (using Q method), describe the sociotechnical imaginaries of around 3/4 of the respondents. The results of this study could be thus for further research be placed in a different social concept such as one of the concepts in the rich umbrella of foresight studies. An example being ‘normative scenarios’ which recognizes more diversity. Another implication is that it is also possible to use Q-method to peek in the ‘black box’ of wicked problems. The results show that conflicting visions about the future could be better understood in the context of contestation, uncertainty, and complexity (in other words; wicked problems). Additionally, according to the results, private sector stakeholders are divided on their views of GHES, meaning that shared value creation using open innovation is problematic. An alignment of normative future visions or even a possibility of open innovation without such an alignment is designated as a direction for future research. ... Read more

The past years there has been a major shift in the automotive industry from regular combustion engines that require the use of fossil fuels to more sustainable power trains. Also, innovations as autonomous driving are expected to make transport more sustainable. Especially now, as fuel prices are rising, regulatory pressures and global warming is increasing, the trucking industry is looking to adopt these radical innovations. These disruptive innovations require companies in the heavyduty trucking industry to transform the current socio-technical system to increase the adoption rate of sustainable transportation possibilities. This thesis focuses on two main innovations, zero emission HDT power trains and fully autonomous heavy duty trucks. Battery electric (BE) and fuel cell electric (FCE) powered vehicles are considered the best potential zero-emission power trains solutions. Autonomous and connected vehicles are considered the promising future of safe and efficient transport. The scope of this thesis focuses on one main stakeholder: the logistical service providers. For logistical service providers decarbonisation is a chance to modernize and reduce emissions while improving their own operations. These logistical service providers are the decision makers, whether these innovations are adopted or not. What factors determine the adoption of these radical architectural innovations? ... Read more