Beslutsaspekter för öppenhet i teknologi-utvecklingsprojekt, varierar de baserat på mognadsgrad? : Utveckling av ett beslutsstöd

In order to make use of both internal and external knowledge, there is a possibility to manage technology development projects together with external partners. Potential partners can be universities, research institutes, industry partners and even competitors. Allowing knowledge and ideas to flow in and out of the organisation is called open innovation, which is a term that has had a breakthrough in the industry. Regardless if the future moves towards research with more open collaborations or not, it will be essential to understand what influence the conditions for open or closed innovation.The aim of the study has been to develop a decision support in order to facilitate the decisions on openness in technology development projects. In this study, a hypothesis has been formulated stating that technology development projects can be divided into different levels based on technology maturity. Within these levels, there are different factors that influence the conditions for openness. By studying ten technology development projects at the vehicle and engine manufacturer Scania, the hypothesis has been tested. The studied projects have been both open and closed and represent seven of the departments at Scania.The result of the study is that there are three categories of questions suitable for decision support: Project Characteristics, Competitive Situation and Resources. These three categories have been used to create a suggestion for a decision support tool at Scania. The tool has turned out to be relevant in two parts of the decision process. Firstly when developing a project plan, where the project format and involved actors are defined. Secondly at milestones during the project, in order to revise the conditions for openness. During this study, no variation of the factors between maturity levels has been found. Due to this, all of the identified factors can be considered relevant for all studied maturity levels.The study has further resulted in recommendations for Scania concerning opportunities to further develop their process for technology development projects, suitable tools for classification of maturity levels and to carry on working with open innovation.Validerat; 20140609 (global_studentproject_submitter