Stakeholder Contributions to Innovation Development : Studies in the Circular Economy and Sustainability Fields
Engez, Anil (2024)
Engez, Anil
Tampere University
2024
Teknis-taloudellinen tohtoriohjelma - Doctoral Programme in Business and Technology Management
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Väitöspäivä
2024-01-26
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-3239-6
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-3239-6
Tiivistelmä
The sustainability and circular economy (CE) concepts have gained global attention in innovation development circles due to the growing need for the responsible use of resources in production and consumption processes. These concepts highlight the urgency of the transition to resilient societies and environmentally friendly practices, which require the involvement and intervention of various stakeholders to enable sustainability and maximum efficiency in resource utilization. Many organizations around the world develop innovations and engage in open-innovation practices to accelerate the sustainability transition that pushes for changes in the organization of societal, political, and economic activities. Through innovations, the developments in the four pillars of sustainability (human, social, economic, and environmental) can be realized, and sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be achieved.
While the open-innovation concepts have explored how to organize for innovation, the activities of various stakeholders that contribute to sustainable development need more research. This would improve our understanding of how stakeholders can contribute to the development of regions, innovations, and economic activity, while placing SDGs at the top of their agendas. The objective of this dissertation is to identify stakeholders and activities that contribute to innovation development and sustainability. The research aims to improve our understanding of the innovation activities of different stakeholders and the methods and concepts that are applied to enable innovation development. Such an understanding would help organizations better organize their innovation activities, introduce new ways and ideas to develop innovations, and find a common interest with their stakeholders in the pursuit of becoming more sustainable.
The research features three single-case studies and two multiple-case studies employing an exploratory and qualitative approach. The data used in the studies were semi-structured interviews, journal articles, books, the webpages of relevant organizations, news articles, and teaching experiences.
The research results are presented based on five publications comprising two journal articles and three book chapters. The first two publications focus on the urban living lab concept for innovation development and urban sustainability, the third publication explores different types of CE innovations and their sustainability benefits, the fourth publication elaborates on the stakeholders and their activities in the commercialization and market creation of a radical innovation, and the fifth publication discusses stakeholders in entrepreneurship education for sustainability.
This dissertation contributes to the understanding of stakeholder activities for sustainability in different innovation and open-innovation contexts. Furthermore, the research specifically contributes to the living lab studies and CE ecosystems and innovation literature alongside commercialization and market-creation studies. This dissertation brings living labs and CE ecosystems literature together, and market creation and commercialization literature together separately under the main innovation literature. It showcases how sustainability agency is distributed among various types of actors in the ecosystem and thus presents practical advice for practitioners, such as municipality officials, companies that develop sustainable innovations, and researchers who study innovation ecosystems. The practical contributions lie in understanding the role of the stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem and organizing the stakeholders for innovations to emerge.
While the open-innovation concepts have explored how to organize for innovation, the activities of various stakeholders that contribute to sustainable development need more research. This would improve our understanding of how stakeholders can contribute to the development of regions, innovations, and economic activity, while placing SDGs at the top of their agendas. The objective of this dissertation is to identify stakeholders and activities that contribute to innovation development and sustainability. The research aims to improve our understanding of the innovation activities of different stakeholders and the methods and concepts that are applied to enable innovation development. Such an understanding would help organizations better organize their innovation activities, introduce new ways and ideas to develop innovations, and find a common interest with their stakeholders in the pursuit of becoming more sustainable.
The research features three single-case studies and two multiple-case studies employing an exploratory and qualitative approach. The data used in the studies were semi-structured interviews, journal articles, books, the webpages of relevant organizations, news articles, and teaching experiences.
The research results are presented based on five publications comprising two journal articles and three book chapters. The first two publications focus on the urban living lab concept for innovation development and urban sustainability, the third publication explores different types of CE innovations and their sustainability benefits, the fourth publication elaborates on the stakeholders and their activities in the commercialization and market creation of a radical innovation, and the fifth publication discusses stakeholders in entrepreneurship education for sustainability.
This dissertation contributes to the understanding of stakeholder activities for sustainability in different innovation and open-innovation contexts. Furthermore, the research specifically contributes to the living lab studies and CE ecosystems and innovation literature alongside commercialization and market-creation studies. This dissertation brings living labs and CE ecosystems literature together, and market creation and commercialization literature together separately under the main innovation literature. It showcases how sustainability agency is distributed among various types of actors in the ecosystem and thus presents practical advice for practitioners, such as municipality officials, companies that develop sustainable innovations, and researchers who study innovation ecosystems. The practical contributions lie in understanding the role of the stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem and organizing the stakeholders for innovations to emerge.
Kokoelmat
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