https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/158302 Tue, 19 May 2026 13:17:25 GMT 2026-05-19T13:17:25Z https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171906 Rethinking how we do things : how fostering socio-ecological perspectives reshapes innovation management Fishburn, Jessica Socio-ecological perspectives have a long history across multiple disciplines and fields, grounded in systems-based approaches that offer a holistic view of the deeply interconnected dynamics of social and natural elements. This dissertation investigates two concepts rooted in these perspectives that have emerged in the business and management domain in recent decades: the ‘Circular Economy’ and ‘Ecosystems’. The Circular Economy is presented as a transformative framework to address consumption-driven linear economic models of the twentieth century, whereas Ecosystems provide a broader lens on economic activities, promoting collaboration and the creation of shared value. Managers and organisations have struggled to integrate these approaches into their innovation practices because existing frameworks, routines, and logics are anchored in linear, firm‑centric, and market-based assumptions. More specifically, these difficulties are procedural or structural issues, but they are also interpretive: they stem from how innovation is understood, framed, and enacted within organisations. The literature still offers insufficient theoretical understanding of how socio‑ecological perspectives, including the Circular Economy and Ecosystems, reshape innovation management thinking by altering the cognitive processes, dominant logics, and sensemaking through which managers and organisations interpret and enact innovation. Employing a qualitative inquiry that comprises two conceptual reviews and two empirical studies, this research demonstrates that fostering socio-ecological perspectives for innovation management is a cognitively informed practice, reshaped by distinct cognitive features, with dualities and tensions arising from these concepts, and enacts reflexivity. The findings contribute to innovation management, notably the circular innovation and ecosystem orchestration literatures, by showing how socio-ecological perspectives reshape innovation through shifts in dominant logics and sensemaking in practice. In addition, the dissertation contributes novel insights to the cognition literature, advancing the knowledge of these perspectives’ integration into innovation management practice. For policymakers and practitioners, it provides recommendations on how policy instruments and infrastructure can support the fostering and management of innovation, particularly regarding grand challenges, and on how professionals and organisations can navigate the ambiguities and complexities that socio-ecological perspectives introduce. Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171906 2026-05-29T00:00:00Z https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171860 Performance management through sustainability management in the Finnish construction industry Kinnunen, Jorma The construction industry plays a significant role in both the global and European economies, as well as in human well-being. However, its adverse impacts on the environment, nature, and sustainability necessitate actions to mitigate or eliminate these effects. Sustainability has recently emerged as a critical approach to addressing these challenges. In this context, sustainability management and sustainability performance have become essential for enhancing performance management and achieving competitive advantage in the construction sector. Despite this, integrating sustainability performance into daily operations and business practices remains challenging, particularly in identifying which dimensions of sustainability most effectively support performance management. This dissertation offers new insights into performance management through the lens of sustainability management within the construction industry. First, it aims to deepen the understanding of sustainability management and its influence on performance management. Second, it explores how sustainability management contributes to performance outcomes. The primary objective is to identify which dimensions of sustainability management most effectively enhance performance management. The dissertation comprises three publications based on survey data collected from Finnish construction companies. The findings indicate that strategic sustainability, business sustainability, and digital technologies play a significant role in improving performance. The dissertation contributes three key findings. First, it provides empirical evidence of the relationship between sustainability performance and construction industry performance. Second, it demonstrates the connection between sustainability management and performance management. Third, it identifies specific dimensions of sustainability performance that lead to improved outcomes. Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171860 2026-05-29T00:00:00Z https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171855 Finite element simulation-based fatigue assessment of welded high-strength steel joints Pesonen, Tero The fatigue performance of welded high-strength steels (HSSs) does not improve to the same extent as in quasi-static strength. To reduce this gap, HSSs require more detailed fatigue design methods, for which finite element (FE) simulations provide an efficient means. This thesis aims to incorporate a manufacturing and cyclic loading FE simulation to numerically account for their combined effect in simulation-based fatigue assessments in the high-cycle fatigue regime. The evaluations are performed at the notch-stress level using continuum mechanics and a local stress-based approach of the 4R method. The 4R method employs Smith-Watson-Topper mean stress correction in local elastoplastic material behavior for total fatigue life estimation. The local material behavior assessment incorporates a sequentially coupled welding simulation with material analysis, an optional high-frequency mechanical impact (HFMI) post-weld treatment simulation, and an external load analysis. The simulations were performed for an HSS fillet-welded longitudinal stiffener joint in as-welded, overloaded, and HFMI-treated joint conditions under constant- and variable-amplitude loading. Numerical fatigue-related manufacturing results were validated at different manufacturing stages, and computational fatigue strengths were validated through experimental fatigue tests. The joint conditions due to the welding, HFMI, and tensile overload peaks were found to have a significant effect on the fatigue strength, which could be simulated with reasonable accuracy and included into the cyclic analysis. The 4R S-N master curve, obtained using simulated mean stress corrected stress ranges and experimental fatigue lives, showed relatively small scatter across different joint and loading conditions. The simulation-based 4R S-N master curve also showed consistency with previously published master curves based on the measurement and analytical approach. In the nominal stress system, the simulated capacity curves correlated well with the experimental results except at consistently high applied stress levels. The results demonstrate the suitability of the FE simulation approach presented in this thesis for incorporating various manufacturing and cyclic conditions using the master curve, thereby expanding the means for numerical fatigue assessment using the 4R method. Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171855 2026-06-02T00:00:00Z https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171847 Climate change performance of hydrogen production and utilization in power-to-X technologies Patel, Gulam Husain With global mean temperatures expected to rise more than 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, the world is will face multiple climate change impacts. This has driven industries and companies to transition toward low-carbon energy systems. Hydrogen and hydrogen-derived power-to-X (PtX) fuels can replace fossil-based fuels and support carbon neutrality and net-zero targets, making hydrogen a promising transition fuel. This dissertation assesses the climate change performance of hydrogen production and hydrogen utilization pathways within PtX systems using a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The primary objective is to compare the climate change impacts of green hydrogen production with fossil-based hydrogen value chains and to identify the conditions under which hydrogen can deliver substantial emission reductions. The research is structured around three sub-objectives covering hydrogen production, biogas upgrading, and hydrogen-based PtX value chains at regional and international levels. First, green hydrogen production is compared with grey, blue, and turquoise hydrogen pathways. The results confirm that green hydrogen has the lowest carbon footprint among the assessed options. Even in a worst-case scenario based entirely on solar electricity, green hydrogen results in emissions of 2.5 kgCO2eq/kgH2, which is lower than the emissions from natural gas extraction alone for fossil-based hydrogen pathways (2.6–4.0 kgCO2eq/kgH2). Upstream emissions from natural gas and liquefied natural gas supply chains, including extraction, liquefaction, transport, and regasification, are shown to be significant and can exceed the total climate change impact of green hydrogen. Turquoise hydrogen performs better than grey and blue hydrogen, with further mitigation potential through solid carbon utilization and renewable methane sourcing. Second, the climate change performance of green hydrogen use in membrane separation, ex-situ biomethanation, and in-situ biomethanation of biogas is evaluated. All scenarios achieve emission reductions of 43–54% compared with fossil natural gas, assuming renewable electricity-based hydrogen production, with negligible differences between proton exchange membrane (PEM) and alkaline electrolysis. Third, six hydrogen-based PtX value chains are compared with fossil alternatives. Green steel production yields the highest emission savings, followed by direct hydrogen use and e-ammonia. Among the carbon capture and utilization pathways e-methanol performs best, while e-fuels show the lowest savings. The results highlight strong regional effects, with export-oriented production shifting emission savings to end-use regions. Overall, the dissertation demonstrates that green hydrogen-based PtX pathways offer significant decarbonization potential when upstream emissions and regional contexts are fully accounted for. Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://lutpub.lut.fi:443/handle/10024/171847 2026-05-27T00:00:00Z