This study explores the crucial role of middle managers in implementing and facilitating Industry 4.0 (I4.0) initiatives within manufacturing organisations. While existing research primarily focuses on the role of top management in digital transformation, this study underscores the critical contributions of middle managers throughout the phases of digitisation, digitalisation, and digital transformation. The research reveals how middle managers bridge the gap between strategic objectives and operational realities through a qualitative, inductive approach involving semi-structured interviews with senior managers, middle managers, and change managers. They are instrumental in laying the groundwork for digital change, building organisational digital maturity, and sustaining continuous innovation. The study highlights the challenges posed by traditional organisational structures and suggests the need for more flexible and adaptive frameworks to support the unique role of middle managers. By rethinking and empowering middle managers as strategic partners, organisations can achieve a more effective and sustainable digital transformation, ensuring that I4.0 initiatives align with strategic goals and operational needs.

Many startups struggle to acquire significant market share and secure growth partnerships. Existing literature often lacks startup perspectives, creating a gap in guidelines for new ventures. This case study investigates Delft Offshore Turbines (DOT) strategies alongside nine additional interviews to identify key factors for successful partnerships. Market research and SWOT analysis for DOT’s slip-joint technology revealed strengths and opportunities related to innovation and wind turbine demand, but weaknesses and threats in the Dutch wind turbine industry and existing partnerships. A conceptual framework was built based on the findings from literature and theories such as Technology Commercialization, Resource-Based View (RBV), Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), and Open Innovation. Comparison with DOT’s strategies showed partial alignment with the theoretical framework, but significant mistrust with the current partner and industry-specific factors suggested exploring alternatives like a Joint Venture (JV). To better understand the specific factors startups employ in forming partnerships, a comparative analysis with eight additional startups identified primary factors such as customer feedback, balanced approaches, and strategic partnership models. Secondary factors included IP protection, preparedness, and adaptability. These findings underscore the importance of strategic partnerships for startups’ growth and highlight the need for trust-building and adaptive strategies within dynamic industry landscapes. Addressing gaps in the current literature on startup perspectives, this study identifies limitations and suggests future research to explore these themes more comprehensively, enhancing startup success in partnership strategies. Keywords: Startup dynamics, collaboration, joint venture, case study, startup partnerships, TUDelft interview, Technology Commercialization, Resource-Based View (RBV), Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), Open Innovation

Organizations with different organizational structures organize innovation differently. Thus, it is likely that organizational structures impact employee-driven innovation (EDI) as well. This thesis researches this topic; the research question is: ‘How do different organizational structures impact employee-driven innovation?’. The research explores this question through interviews with employees, innovation managers, and consultants, leveraging their perspectives and expertise to discern optimal strategies for fostering EDI within different contexts. These insights reveal the intricate connections between organizational structures and EDI-supporting structures.
Based on the information, common relations between organizational structures and EDI-supporting structures are found. Furthermore, a taxonomy between the different organizational structures is created, and important factors within organizations are identified. Additionally, a taxonomy in EDI-supporting methods is identified. The thesis finds that the freedom of communication and autonomy within an organization relates to whether a structure is necessary to facilitate the ability of employees to communicate their ideas. The second most important factor is the importance of building community. In organizations where community building is a priority, the employees should be involved in the innovation process as much as possible. In organizations where community building is not a priority, events or innovation managers who preside over the innovation process are the better practice to support EDI.

The number of projects has increased immensely, as projects allow flexibility and can be widely applied. Even though that there has been an increase in the number of projects that are started, there is still a high number of projects that fail to meet the requirements. Project management has become an intensively researched topic, as it is an enabler for the enhancement of the success of projects. Effective communication has been identified as the most important factor contributing to the success of projects. Therefore this research aims to explore the effect of communication on project performance, with communication media as a critical aspect of cross-functional project teams, taking the contextual factors complexity and familiarity into account. The main research question that will be answered in this thesis is the following: What is the influence of communication media on the performance of cross-functional project teams? To answer this question, a thorough literature review has been conducted. The literature has served as the basis for the research. In order to determine whether a project can be deemed a success or a failure, a conceptualization of project performance was made based on the literature. This helped in assessing the performance of projects. Next, communication is dissected into two processes, conveyance, the process of exchanging new information, and convergence, the process of gaining a mutual understanding. For this research the contextual factors complexity and familiarity are taken into account. As information is exchanged, it is important to make a distinction of the information that is exchanged, as some information is complex and some is not complex. The complexity of information is a function of uncertainty and equivocality. Familiarity positively influences the relationship between communication and project performance as it enhances the quality of communication. With the basis known of communication, a dive was made into communication theories. The Media Richness Theory (MRT) was discussed, which discusses the richness of information and the ability of communication media to convey rich information. As an extension of this, the Media Synchronicity Theory (MST) was discussed, which explains the concept of synchronicity, and the ability of media to be synchronous. The last theory which was discussed is the Social Presence Theory (SPT), this theory explains the ability of media to express social presence. Social presence is an important aspect as it fosters trust and enhances the creation of relationships. Based on these three theories an analytical framework was created, that helps to create a media fit based on the characteristics of communication media and on contextual factors such as the complexity of the information exchanged and the familiarity. The analytical framework was used as the basis for the case analysis. The case analysis existed out of two sets of interviews with employees of the (Gas Mobility PRO) GMOB-PRO department of TotalEnergies and of an analysis of the Tanzania project, which is an advisory project. The interviews showed that there was a lack of structure at the GMOB-PRO department, this lack of structure resulted in working in silos, inadequate use of communication media, lack of trust within the department, and a lack of focus on projects that are not hydrogen related. In addition to this, a project was analyzed, the Tanzania project, the first advisory project. The results of the analysis clearly showed that email was the preferred communication medium, even when there is clarification is required. Next to this finding, clearly, the lack of focus on projects other than hydrogen was confirmed. By not using the proper communication media, the project was delayed as communication via email does not foster a rapid back-and-forth of information exchange. This resulted in an increase in cost as the quotations expired. To answer the main research question, communication has an indirect effect on project performance, as it can not directly influence project performance. Project performance is indirectly influenced by communication via aspects such as clarity and understanding, decision-making, team collaboration, resource allocation, and stakeholder engagement. If used properly, communication media enhances the effectiveness of communication, which indirectly affects project performance. Following the results of the literature, it is recommended for companies, such as TotalEnergies make use of clear structures for projects. Next to this, it is recommended to create awareness of the capabilities of communication media. By creating awareness of the communication processes, the characteristics of communication media, and the ability of communication media to convey information, individuals will be able to communicate more effectively, improve collaboration, and thereby increase the organization’s success. In addition to this, individuals can use the analytical framework as a tool to improve their communication efficiency.

Background
This research is initiated to investigate the underrepresentation of women in technical occupations, particularly in the male-dominated field of the construction industry. The Netherlands is a country where this gender gap has been observed, with a significant disparity in the representation of women in the industry. Despite the recognized importance of gender diversity and equity in promoting gender equality and empowerment, there is a lack of comprehensive frameworks that address these issues within organizations.

Purpose and methodology
This study aims to enhance understanding of gender diversity and equity in the workplace, particularly focusing on challenges faced by women in the Dutch construction industry. It seeks to offer insights and recommendations for promoting gender diversity by examining different organizational roles. The research contributes to existing literature, informs company diversity initiatives, and provides insights applicable to similar industries. The objective is to explore perceptions, challenges, and opportunities related to gender diversity within Strukton Rail from the perspectives of employees, top management, and HR partners. This is achieved through a combination of methods including interviews, questionnaires, and observations, enriched by the researcher's unique position as a Strukton Rail employee, allowing comprehensive exploration of the organization's culture, practices, and policies.

Findings and Recommendations
This research explores gender diversity and equity perspectives within Strukton Rail. Different roles (employees, top management, and HR) have varying viewpoints. There's recognition of a male-dominated culture, but differing acknowledgment of its impact on female employees. Some top management members claim gender-blindness but exhibit underlying biases. Work-life balance is valued by employees, especially female employees, while management prioritizes operational needs. Biases may affect perceptions of adaptability and caregiving roles. To address challenges, management commitment is crucial, involving a gender diversity vision, bias challenge, and clear women's representation goals. Open dialogue is vital for understanding diverse perspectives and driving change. Compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is also highlighted.

Practical Implications
The description of the framework for organizational change provides organizations in the construction industry with a way to assess the gender diversity and equity status within their organization. This can aid in challenging and assessing challenges that hinder the inclusion and retention of women within the industry.

Value
This research describes an approach to understand organizational factors influencing gender diversity and equity in the construction industry. In present a novel framework that can shed light on the gender diversity and equity within an organization and can be the blueprint for organizational change. The value of this research is rooted in the ethnographic methodology, combined with the case study design. Combined with the dual position of the researcher as both employee and researcher, highly in-depth, contextual data forms the basis of this research.

This thesis focuses on driving innovation in organizations by involving employees in the innovation processes. Emphasis is laid on the involvement of ICT and the organizational climate in stimulating the innovative behavior of employees to create more innovativeness in the organization. The thesis holds a case study at a large-sized multinational in engineering & consultancy, from which qualitative research has been conducted through the use of a survey. The focus of the study is on construction engineering, a sector that has shown signs of stagnating growth through a lack of innovativeness. Through the qualitative analysis and based on the findings, a model is proposed on how employee-driven innovation can be managed in construction engineering in order to stimulate innovation in this sector.

Using an exploratory approach, this research delves into the intricate interplay between diversity and team dynamics, using social network analysis as a powerful tool. By combining theoretical insights from literature with comprehensive network analysis, the effects of diversity on power, influence and communication on construction project teams are uncovered.

The initial phase of the research involves a literature review on diversity to develop an understanding of diversity within project teams. A preliminary survey collects data on diversity within two project teams and gathers relationship information based on Cross's four dimensions: frequency, responsiveness, effectiveness, and energy. This empirical data, along with social network analysis (SNA) metrics such as centrality, centralisation, density, clustering, and homophily, provides insights into the manifestation of diversity and its impact on team dynamics. The research findings and conclusions are presented to two experts in the field to enhance the understanding of diversity’s effects and obtain recommendations.

The literature review helped create a list of relevant diversity dimensions. Age, gender, language, and nationality are important personal traits, while educational background, functional background, experience, and team tenure are critical job-related traits. In addition, three parameters were integrated into the analysis to understand some of the observed network properties of the investigated project teams. These parameters include organisation, office location, and department.

The findings of this research highlight the significant impact of age, experience, education, functional background, nationality, and gender on team dynamics and collaboration within diverse teams. Age and experience were found to influence the closeness of team members, with younger and less experienced individuals being less connected to the larger network, particularly in relation to the oldest team members. In consultancy-based work or projects involving experts, higher educational degrees were associated with increased power, influence, and communication within the team. However, this trend was not observed in project management-based teams. The tendency to associate with others who share similar characteristics was evident based on nationality, with team members exhibiting a higher affinity to form connections towards individuals from their own nationality. Gender also influenced this effect, although to a lesser extent compared to nationality. Clustering based on nationality, gender, and functional background was observed.

Onboarding and extracurricular activities emerged as factors responsible for the visibility of the effects of diversity within project teams. A comparison revealed that the team where deliberate efforts were made to foster bonds among members exhibited lower variations in diversity-related network characteristics. This underscores the importance of effective onboarding processes prioritising trust-building, team integration, and establishing a cohesive unit. To enhance collaboration within diverse teams, several strategies are recommended based on these findings. They focus on reforming onboarding practices, embracing diversity and inclusivity, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, and addressing cultural and language barriers and considerations while building the formal organisational structure.

In summary, this research underscores the importance of understanding the various factors that influence the social structure within diverse teams. By implementing the strategies and recommendations outlined, organisations can create a more inclusive and collaborative environment, leading to improved team outcomes.

A growing perspective on innovation suggests that significant innovation can stem from employees' daily activities. Traditional innovation practices often delegate decision-making to a select group, typically R&D departments or specialized units. However, this approach overlooks the innovation potential distributed across all employees in an organization. Recent understanding challenges this traditional view, emphasizing that all employees possess the potential for innovation. Recognizing and harnessing this potential can lead to more distributed and effective innovation practices within organizations. This concept is referred to as Employee-Driven Innovation.
In the context of Employee-Driven Innovation (EDI), collaboration is crucial for successful development and implementation. Effective collaboration, reliant on structures promoting knowledge exchange, skill development, and resource sharing, amplifies an organization's performance by capitalizing on individual strengths and expertise. However, the specific impact of collaboration on EDI practices is not well-understood, creating a gap in the literature and an opportunity to explore how collaboration influences EDI. Understanding these dynamics can inform and shape effective EDI practices. Therefore, it's essential to investigate the influence of collaborative activity on EDI, guiding the formation of effective strategies and driving successful EDI practices.
This research narrows its focus to the development and implementation phase of Employee-Driven Innovation (EDI), as the literature suggests this phase is most influenced by collaborative activities and the organizational context allows deeper research into this specific phase. The central question being explored in this research is: how do collaborative activities drive the development and implementation of EDI initiatives?
To address this, a case study is conducted within a single organization, Stedin, a grid operator in the Netherlands. The study encompasses several EDI initiatives and involves questioning both the initiators of the initiatives and collaborators during the development and implementation phase. A semi-structured interview format is used to gather insights.
This research reveals key insights into the contrasting collaborative activities of the "fuzzy front end" and the "back end" of the development and implementation process of EDI initiatives. The fuzzy front end, characterized by exploration, thrives on dynamic, distant, and informal collaboration. These characteristics facilitate swift interactions, overcome organizational resistance, and prevent collective decision-making structures, thus promoting speed and flexibility.
Conversely, the back end, typically more specialized and complex, benefits from stable, intimate, and homogeneous collaboration. This phase involves a time-consuming and complex role transfer, transitioning the EDI to an innovation that can be adopted organization-wide. Stable, homogeneous and intimate collaboration ensures effective implementation and a smooth transition of ownership...

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are one of the latest topics getting attention among companies and universities. This reflects societal representation for gender ratios and many organizations have set goals on gender equality in creating a sustainable and innovative workplace. However, the statistics show that there is sluggish growth for women in managerial positions. This is creating a problem for promoting equity at leadership levels in every organization. Equity and equality are not the same as the former is closer to justice creating the same opportunities for all people with different abilities. Even though organizations can able to promote gender equality and achieve it with a better ratio, there is a struggle to increase women's representation at different leadership levels. The global scenario also shows that the representation of women on board and C-suite (Chief executive level like CEO, CFO, etc) is very low demanding gender equity at leadership levels. Thereby, a case study is performed in Celanese, a materials company that has better gender equality across the organization.

This research is executed as an embedded single case study in both the global and Dutch context to understand this scenario and their gender representation at the management level. This is, in particular, to relate gender equality ratio progress and effectiveness for development programs to promote more women leaders supporting equitable workplace. The embedded case study is performed through ethnography research in terms of observations, qualitative interviews, and focused group discussions inside the organization. This approach helps to understand the existing scenario for women's representation and leadership development opportunities in a typical materials company. This is extended for industrial benchmarks at the global level as a comparison of gender equality ratios against their competitors. The leadership interviews with both genders focusing on women leaders are done and the outputs showed the driving factors, challenges, and future requirements to create equity-focused leadership. Further analysis is done to extract the key elements impacting gender equity for leadership development programs.

Whereas, focused group discussions are aimed at involving employees at different levels and employees who are closely involved in leadership programs. So, focused group discussion is done with the Young professional group that comprises employees at different levels and Human Resources team who drives leadership programs. These discussions acted as data triangulation for qualitative interviews and provided more insights into leadership development programs from different perspectives. As a result, the existing gaps and challenges for the leadership development of women employees in an organization are studied. Facts derived from the organizational level and qualitative results provided enough reasons for ineffective development programs in supporting equity at leadership levels. This is evident that leadership levels demanded more women employees and necessary driving factors to motivate them. This also emphasized how HR policies and role model representation can contribute better in driving more female employees into leadership levels.

However, the missing factor is equitable actions in leadership development programs to create an inclusive environment. Thereby, a leadership development cycle is developed to strengthen various processes making the leadership program as equity-focused and motivating female employees for leadership positions. However, the recommendations are derived using the embedded single case study and explained briefly about a roadmap showing the next future phases for equity at leadership levels and their decision-making impact on innovation. Finally, a leadership development framework is developed showing the possible methods and processes for driving more female employees from the organizational level to the leadership level. This leadership framework shows how women leaders need effective equity-focused development programs using equitable actions considering both social and professional barriers. Using this framework, the practical implications are summarized for promoting women leaders at leadership levels through equity-focused leadership development programs.

This thesis focuses on designing a process for balancing and prioritizing the digital innovation project portfolio of a rental equipment company. The company operates in a traditional industry in which themes like digital transformation and digitalization are new emerging themes that are yet to be accepted by the industry. Therefore, in order to keep their businesses future proof, rental equipment companies need to focus on planning their digital project portfolio to meet their strategic requirements. This research was carried out in collaboration with Riwal Holding Group, a specialist in ariel work platforms (AWP) to design a process to manage their digital project portfolio and to check how feasible the process would be in a real-life setting.

Nature-based solutions are solutions that (partly) consist of, or contribute to, living nature, which can provide economical, social and environmental benefits. Especially in the building sector they can have huge benefits over conventional (grey) solution as this sector uses a lot of resources and energy. The benefits that nature-based solutions can offer range from air purification to carbon sequestration to insulation. Even though nature-based solutions are known to have these benefits, large scale diffusion of nature-based solutions has not yet happened. The EU states that in “order for NbS to be implemented effective new business and partnership models should be created”. To foster the creation of these business models an appropriate business model framework is necessary. However, this framework was not yet existing. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to create a novel sustainable business model framework for nature-based solutions in the Dutch building sector. The novel framework was created through performing first literature research followed by a creation phase. This led to a preliminary framework which was then improved with the use of a focus group consisting of 7 experts from the Dutch building sector, who are currently working with, or involved with, nature-based solutions. With valuable insights and tips from the focus group the framework was then improved. This led to a framework consisting of a business model canvas supported by a few sections providing extra information. These extra sections help the user to fill in the business model canvas. On top of the improvements the focus group meeting also gave insights in how, and by who, the framework should be used. It became clear that the framework should primarily be used for creating an overview of an organisation, rather than for ideation. The framework should be used by organisations working with nature-based solutions and especially organisations who care about their impact and their ‘raison d’être’. The framework is a big improvement compared to the alternatives mainly because it is compact, but also comprehensive. It offers the user a way to perform a thoroughly impact assessment and the canvas includes many aspects/elements which are of high importance for implementing nature-based solutions.

A medical error indicates that the expected action has not been completed in the medical treatment. Patient safety defined as ‘the prevention of harm to patients’ is a vital concept in medical teams and is essential in improving quality of medical treatment. Safety culture is defined as “the product of individual and group perceptions, attitudes, values, competencies, and patterns of behavior that decide the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organization’s health and safety management”. The terminology for safety has evolved from a focus on error to patient safety to adopting a safety culture with adequate shared mental models. That evolution reflects a process of shifting responsibility from individuals to the whole organization. More recently, scholars is advocating medical organization to get rid of blame culture and embrace just safety culture. Blame culture is a set of organizational norms and attitudes characterized by being reluctant to accept responsibility or to take risks for errors because of being afraid of criticism or management blame. Just safety culture refers to a culture that encourages open dialogue to promote safer practices. On the face of it, healthcare organizations should quickly abandon blame culture and choose a just culture. However, it’s not easy to deploying a just safety culture in reality. Good implement of just safety culture in a medical team requires much teamwork effort. When it comes to teamwork effort, the shared mental model has received a lot of attention in the literature on medical team performance. A mental model means the intelligence that imitates relation structures of external processes. A shared mental model of a team means a large or complete overlap of the team members’ individual mental models. A useful method to analysis shared mental models of a team is adaptive network-oriented modeling, which refers to modeling complex processes by adaptive networks. The AI technology has the potential to help a medical team deploy just safety culture. But research on how AI can involve in the workflow of existing medical team is limited. Thus, in hoping of solving the problem: How can AI participate in the application of just safety culture to neonatal resuscitation? This study chooses these points to explore: how AI improves the efficiency of team communication, how AI leverages organizational learning, and how AI points out defects and prevents errors. From the perspective of result, these converge into how AI can help improve the performance of the medical team. That leads to the main research question of this research: How to use an adaptive network-oriented modeling method to analysis the AI-coach’s contribution in a medical team’s ventilation operation to save baby in danger?...

The extensive and growing population of remote workers has left traditional leaders with many challenges managing a team remotely, and virtual leadership has been introduced as a remote management style. The increasing use of workplace surveillance technology in organisations has resulted in considerable debate over the years. This qualitative study aimed to explore virtual leadership in practice and investigate the potential of using workplace surveillance technology to support effective virtual leadership. The results of the research will provide an answer to the following question: “How can workplace surveillance technology support virtual leadership in the new normal era?”.
Existing research suggests that there is no single theory for virtual leadership and that more research should be conducted. The use of workplace surveillance technology lacks practical evidence and does not keep pace with continual change, vast technological advancements, and expectations by followers for transparency. The methodology used for this research consists of ten in-depth interviews with leaders and followers from the same organisation within three different sectors. Interviews were conducted utilising a semi-structured interview format. They produced data based on the lived experiences of virtual leadership and participants' views on workplace surveillance technology relating to whether virtual leaders could become more effective by implementing that.
The findings of this research supported that there is not a single virtual leadership style, and continual change was recognised as an ongoing theme. Acceptance of change, adaptability, and personal attention were necessary for successful virtual leaders. The participants indicated that they saw some potential in using workplace surveillance technology for virtual leaders under certain conditions. The research has found that threats to using sensitive data information should be considered before deployment. When considering the needs and threats, participants argued that this could result in more effective virtual leadership depending on how virtual leaders act upon the information being gathered. Therefore, it is recommended to consider the threat that there is not a standard design of workplace surveillance technology and the potential of this technology is context-specific. Additional research should be conducted to evaluate virtual leadership, in general, to understand motivations and barriers to widespread adoption regardless of the use of workplace surveillance technology. Further research should be conducted on the operational and practical issues surrounding workplace surveillance technology in virtual work environments.

The aerospace industry and TU Delft have set stringent climate goals for themselves and with each passing year, these goals seem all the more implausible. While sustainability in the aerospace industry is envisioned as futuristic, circular, net-zero aircraft, the change rarely comes from the grassroots. Although these technological solutions are undoubtedly our liberators from long-term climate change, there is relatively less focus on the education of engineers who grow up to design these machines. This thesis follows a bottom-up approach which can stimulate pro-environmental attitudes among future aerospace engineers to give ourselves a fighting chance to mitigate climate change.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has encountered remote working. During this time, employees have become accustomed to remote working habits, and a shift has been made in many lives toward a more flexible work-life balance. Nowadays, with the pandemic almost behind, it gives rise to the question, how will the ideal workplace environment look like post-pandemic? By conducting a broad and extensive literature research two frameworks were constructed and proposed, being, respectively, a productivity framework, and a well-being framework. On top of that, three categories involving the responsibility of these factors were proposed, being, respectively, the neutral, positive, and happy category, linked to the responsibility of respectively, the manager, colleagues, and the employee self. These frameworks and their corresponding factors were connected by the five needs of Maslow and linked to these categories. Resulting in a combined framework that showed promising connections between the productivity and well-being factors that are in need to be verified and validated. This was followed by a survey conducted over 56 participants, including a selection of the factors mentioned in the frameworks. Resulting in many qualitative information on how to establish the ideal workplace environment. However, due to the time constraints, the results of the survey are still open to be analyzed in a quantitative manner. The research was concluded with a part that draws the ideal workplace environment, and on top of that, some advice for managers on how to create their own ideal workplace environment, and how to better support their employees with the focus on remote work. All in all, managers should have an open communication style, be respectful, listen actively to the needs, preferences, and wishes of their employees, and keep up to date with the resources they can provide to support their employees. Resulting in an increase in the mentioned factors from the frameworks, which, in turn, could fulfill the five basic needs of Maslow, and helps employees to live up to their potential. When an employee is able to achieve this, their productivity and well-being will be improved, and they will make more and cost less, for the organization. Therefore, aiming for the ideal workplace environment will benefit all.

Aviation Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) organisations are facing a lack of sustainable alternatives within MRO, which could aid a more sustainable operation geared to meet short-term climate regulations. Hence, they need to establish an idea evaluation process, allowing organisations to assess and prioritise generated ideas to assess which have the potential to contribute to the industry's decarbonisation.
This research aims to determine how innovative ideas can be assessed and selected to speed up the innovation process within aviation-MRO. In particular, the Front-end of Innovation (FEI) is researched as this phase is considered extremely important within the innovation process. The FEI is the first phase of innovation, ranging from idea generation to concept development.
This study utilised a mixed method approach to achieve the research objective, in which multiple methodologies are synthesised into one more extensive study. Firstly, extensive literature research was performed to determine the evaluation models applied within the existing literature. Next, industry-specific interviews were conducted to acquire standard practices within the aviation MRO. Thirdly, survey research was employed to tailor the idea evaluation model toward the aviation MRO industry. Finally, a case study was performed to determine whether the proposed case study could be applied within the organisational context.
The framework incorporates a stage-gate process, incorporating two evaluation moments named the initial screen and the preliminary evaluation. The first evaluation includes a checklist with five criteria, followed by an evaluation matrix incorporating fourteen criteria. Although the framework serves as the basis for the idea evaluation process, the case study revealed that there is no one-size-fits-all process. The organisation context impacts the evaluation criteria, meaning each organisation should individually assess which of the proposed criteria are deemed relevant within their organisation.
The framework proposed in this research provides a structure and tools to organise the idea evaluation process, which can aid organisations in enhancing the speed of the innovation process potentially. On this basis, the proposed framework can be utilised by aviation MRO organisations to accommodate the foundation of the idea evaluation process.

In the business world, international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are often adopted. To localize technology afterward, international technology transfers (ITTs) are often carried out. Human Resource Management (HRM) practices can help the technology transfer process achieve better performance. However, human resource interactions within organizations are complex, and a generic definition of HRM can lead to inconclusive results. How human resource activities are implemented in organizations and how they function in ITT have to be emphasized and realized in detail.
Utilizing a case study of ITT between a Chinese company and an acquired Dutch medical company, this thesis analyzes the role of three HRM practices: staffing, performance-related rewards, and training in ITT. Thus, bringing clarity on how more specific features within HRM can be utilized to improve an ITT performance. The case study also defines criteria for the ITT process and establishes the difficulties in an ITT process and the implementation of HRM practices. Then it analyzes the role of HRM practices in ITT.
Based on the contingency theorists, the assessment clearly addressed the use of HRM practices aligned with the business strategies. The research agrees that it is crucial to acknowledge the situation of the business context, which requires consideration of industry, organizational structure, resources, etc. Interviews are used to collect data. The details of implementing the HRM practices within the organizations are also introduced. The criteria for the ITT are defined. The connections between HRM practices and the performance of ITT are built. Then models are proposed for the effects of training, performance-related rewards, and staffing on successful ITT. The models are disassembled into details.
In the studied case, the use of the HRM practices can benefit ITT performance by benefiting collaboration and communication between two organizations, transfer of tacit knowledge, and technology integration with local industries. The influence of training is the most recognized among the three HRM practices. Hard skills training is considerably more efficient than soft skills training with acquiring tacit knowledge. Recruiting and training can also help organizations gain abilities outside the organizations. Internal mobility helps transfer tacit knowledge and experience from the technology-giving side. The influence of rewards is relatively small. In the organizations studied, intrinsic rewards influence more the motivations of employees than extrinsic rewards. Cultural and organizational factors can significantly affect the implementation of HRM practices and the influence HRM practices had on ITT.

Addressing climate change is a challenge that governments, society, and companies have to face. For companies this becomes a major challenge as they are required to innovate in order to become more sustainable whilst still remain competitive. However, carrying out technological innovation may be useless if it cannot be diffused in the market. Due to this, ventures must go further and modify their current business models to change the way they are doing business and thus generate sustainable value and remain competitive. Within this context, a research gap that relates sustainability, business model innovation, and technology can be identified. To address this gap, an empirical exploratory case study is used as approach. The case study analysed is the Fermentation Acceleration by Separation Technology (FAST), a breakthrough technology in the biotechnology industry that is able to produce chemicals by means of a more cost-effective fermentation process. The technology was developed by DAB, a Dutch biotechnology spin-off from TU Delft. The main research question that was proposed to address the research gap was: “How can the FAST technology be a driver for sustainable business model innovation of biobased chemical companies?”. To answer the question, two business models were generated using the triple layered business model canvas for assessing and visualising, under a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective, to what extent and in which elements of a business model the FAST technology drives sustainability. The models assessment considered DAB as a producer and a licensor for 2-phenylethanol (2PE) production by means of FAST, respectively. The main finding of this thesis project is that it has proven that FAST drives sustainable business model innovation within the biobased chemical industry. This is as sustainable business model innovation is found in both value proposition and value creation & delivery of the two sustainable business models generated by complementing FAST with the use of organic raw materials and solvents, and renewable energies as power source. More specifically, FAST sustainable innovativeness can be seen in the elements of value proposition, key resources, key partners, and customer segments of these novel sustainable business models. FAST drives sustainable business model innovation within these four elements by being a breakthrough innovation (key resources) that includes a sustainable and efficient production of biochemicals within its value proposition. Moreover, innovation is also driven within key partnerships as FAST requires strain designers to adopt a different approach when engineering new microorganisms. Here, the technology has an effect outside its business model, modifying the value chain. Furthermore, FAST can reach new customer segments and be competitive with current production processes of chemicals as it was shown for the case of 2PE. This sustainable innovativeness differs from the practices other companies within the industry have implemented which are focused on changing the fossil origin of raw materials but do not consider the creation of new value propositions/business models to balance the financial, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability. Regarding the theoretical contribution, this thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the two business models outlined from the biotechnology sector and shows how they are able to capture the value of a novel sustainable innovation. By doing this, the research gap among business model innovation, sustainability, and technology is reduced. The generation of the sustainable business models was performed by: carrying out a literature review, a questionnaire on sustainability indicators, the Delphi method to obtain a consensus, and simulations of processes for 2PE production. The contribution for practitioners is an example on how they can design business models for a novel technology using a tool that offers a comprehensive analysis of its effects on sustainability. Moreover, the integrated LCA allows practitioners to have a quantitative analysis for measuring the impact of their technology, processes and activities. Furthermore, it may be also useful for redesigning current business models by assessing which components may be modified or kept to achieve sustainability. 

With the trend of work-from-home and flexible working arising from the Covid-19 virus pandemic becoming increasingly popular, personal branding will play a growing role in the workplace. Practitioners in a few industries, such as public relations, have been at the forefront of personal branding and will continue to attract people from other industries and even graduates to start focusing on building and managing their personal brands. In the near future, personal branding may become mandatory for graduate jobseekers and even further popularized in university and college vocational education.
Previous studies have shown that personal branding can help improve graduates’ employability, which is done through a three-stage approach: firstly, establishing their brand identities, then positioning their brands to the audiences, and finally checking how well it matches the company’s brand for which they are seeking employment. This study conducted empirical research on 80 science/engineering graduates no more than two years ago to determine the level of correlation between each of the three and their perceived employability through PLS-SEM analysis. On this basis, the study also explored whether and to what extent perceived external marketability plays a role in the impact of personal branding on perceived employability.
The PLS-SEM analysis results show that the conceptual model is a good fit. According to our research, the impact of graduates' core personal brand identity and personal brand positioning on perceived employability is not significant. This finding makes us think about whether the current personal branding guidelines, which generally focus on improving personal brand positioning, are really useful. The study also found that extended personal brand identity had a direct contribution to graduates' perceived employability. The most important finding is that the fit between personal brand and company brand makes the most difference for graduates' perceived employability, and perceived external marketability also plays a significant mediating role. This reveals that future graduates should look more into their brand fit with the preferred company when seeking employment.
This study provides valuable new insights into the impact of personal branding on the perceived employability of science/engineering graduates. Although the results are encouraging, future researchers can build on this study with longitudinal or cross-sectional follow-up studies.

Open innovation ensures that there is a mutual flow of knowledge and skills between organizations. In this regard, the focus of open innovation is on forming mutually beneficial connections that can ensure competitive advantage. The market gets optimized processes and technologies, and the organization can achieve profitability. Although open innovation can have many benefits, it also brings challenges. The most important is the support within an organization to adopt open innovation. Employees are critical to open innovation. If organizations want to achieve successful open innovation, they must embed open innovation into the organization's mission and vision. This report maps the relationships between middle management leadership behaviors and employee open innovation behaviors. Leadership behaviors focus on developing the behaviors of employees and leaders themselves in relation to open innovation. Leadership encourages the development of employees' personal and professional skills. Leadership emphasizes decisions to build and maintain relationships and to promote open innovation behavior among employees, thus stimulating open innovation within the organization. Semi-structured interviews based on an exploratory qualitative method were used for this research. Interviews were conducted with 12 participants. Six leadership experts and six employees from different areas in the Netherlands were selected for this purpose. This research conducted a multilevel analysis and found that leadership behaviors drive important organizational changes related to open innovation and improve open innovation behaviors of employees. To implement open innovation within the organization, open innovation must be integrated into the mission and mandate of the organization. This creates effective collaboration between leaders and employees. Leadership can enable the use of leadership behaviors that can develop skills and competencies critical to open innovation. In addition, leadership behaviors have been found to influence employee behaviors related to open innovation when it comes to improving knowledge acquisition and sharing. In addition, employees are motivated to enter into external relationships with other organizations. Leadership behavior influences employee knowledge and skills. Leaders can influence the way employees acquire and share knowledge outside the organization and stimulate employees' open innovation behavior. Similarly, they can develop in the area of communication to foster useful long-term relationships. 9 In addition, more transparency, less time pressure, and the provision of support are important for gathering and sharing knowledge and building partnerships. This work has demonstrated effective leadership behaviors that can improve employee skills and competencies and specified the shift in organizational goals from open innovation to open employee innovation behaviors. Development within the organization can be accomplished by improving open communication and bonds between leaders-employees. In addition, there must be open communication between leaders and employees to motivate them to participate in open innovation activities. This research suggests that leadership behaviors can improve employees' open innovation behaviors by developing these behaviors in two phases of open innovation: obtaining ideas from external sources and idea integration. Open innovation involves individual employees and leaders, which can improve the output of open innovation in the organization.