{"id":{"repo_id":"stellenbosch","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135981"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/stellenbosch/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135981","repository":{"repo_id":"stellenbosch","name":"Stellenbosch University","base_url":"https://scholar.sun.ac.za/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A Decision-Support Framework for Guiding Local Medical Device Innovation: An Innovation Systems perspective","abstract":"Innovation within the South African medical device sector is impeded by systemic barriers that prevent a significant proportion of locally developed technologies from reaching the market. This failure to translate promising innovations into commercial products represents a substantial loss of potential economic and social value. This research addresses the critical need for a structured, evidence-based approach to diagnose and navigate the complex challenges inherent in this specific innovation landscape. The study aims to conduct comprehensive empirical research to understand and analyse the systemic barriers that impede medical device innovation within the South African innovation system. Through rigorous investigation of innovation system functions, stakeholder dynamics, and bottleneck patterns, this research seeks to provide evidence-based insights into why local medical device innovations fail to reach the market or are frustrated along the way and how these challenges can be addressed. The study employs a mixed-methods design under a Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm. A comprehensive literature review establishes theoretical foundations for innovation systems analysis in medical devices. Empirically, the research integrates (i) a structured, multi-stakeholder survey (n = 90) assessing performance across Innovation System functions (F1–F7) for enterprise, academic, and government actors, and (ii) Event History Analysis of three frustrated innovation case studies spanning 1976–2025, followed by cross-case synthesis. This triangulation generated seven recurrent failure archetypes that explain typical stall points and feedback loops. The thesis makes four contributions. Empirically, it provides a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder functional assessment of South Africa’s medical device innovation system triangulated with longitudinal case narratives. Theoretically, it extends innovation systems scholarship with empirically derived failure archetypes and a contextualised, multi-valley perspective for LMIC settings. Methodologically, it operationalises Event History Analysis for systematic function diagnosis. Practically, it translates evidence into actionable recommendations and a Decision Support Framework (DSF) for innovators, policymakers, and intermediaries. Overall, the research advances an evidence-based, practically usable pathway for diagnosing and remedying systemic weaknesses in South Africa’s medical device innovation system, offering tools and insights with transferability to other LMIC contexts.","abstract_html":"Innovation within the South African medical device sector is impeded by systemic barriers that prevent a significant proportion of locally developed technologies from reaching the market. This failure to translate promising innovations into commercial products represents a substantial loss of potential economic and social value. This research addresses the critical need for a structured, evidence-based approach to diagnose and navigate the complex challenges inherent in this specific innovation landscape. The study aims to conduct comprehensive empirical research to understand and analyse the systemic barriers that impede medical device innovation within the South African innovation system. Through rigorous investigation of innovation system functions, stakeholder dynamics, and bottleneck patterns, this research seeks to provide evidence-based insights into why local medical device innovations fail to reach the market or are frustrated along the way and how these challenges can be addressed. The study employs a mixed-methods design under a Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm. A comprehensive literature review establishes theoretical foundations for innovation systems analysis in medical devices. Empirically, the research integrates (i) a structured, multi-stakeholder survey (n = 90) assessing performance across Innovation System functions (F1–F7) for enterprise, academic, and government actors, and (ii) Event History Analysis of three frustrated innovation case studies spanning 1976–2025, followed by cross-case synthesis. This triangulation generated seven recurrent failure archetypes that explain typical stall points and feedback loops. The thesis makes four contributions. Empirically, it provides a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder functional assessment of South Africa’s medical device innovation system triangulated with longitudinal case narratives. Theoretically, it extends innovation systems scholarship with empirically derived failure archetypes and a contextualised, multi-valley perspective for LMIC settings. Methodologically, it operationalises Event History Analysis for systematic function diagnosis. Practically, it translates evidence into actionable recommendations and a Decision Support Framework (DSF) for innovators, policymakers, and intermediaries. Overall, the research advances an evidence-based, practically usable pathway for diagnosing and remedying systemic weaknesses in South Africa’s medical device innovation system, offering tools and insights with transferability to other LMIC contexts.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Etuket, Maureen Dimitria"],"institution":"Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Grobbelaar, Sara","Salie, Faatiema","Sivarasu, Sudesh"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026-03","date_published":"2026-03","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:40:14Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135981","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Grobbelaar, Sara","Salie, Faatiema","Sivarasu, Sudesh"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Stellenbosch University. 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D. 2026. A Decision-Support Framework for Guiding Local Medical Device Innovation: An Innovation Systems perspective. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/f6b05d7d-9263-41ce-829d-7c0cdee5e14a"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Innovation within the South African medical device sector is impeded by systemic barriers that prevent a significant proportion of locally developed technologies from reaching the market. This failure to translate promising innovations into commercial products represents a substantial loss of potential economic and social value. This research addresses the critical need for a structured, evidence-based approach to diagnose and navigate the complex challenges inherent in this specific innovation landscape. The study aims to conduct comprehensive empirical research to understand and analyse the systemic barriers that impede medical device innovation within the South African innovation system. Through rigorous investigation of innovation system functions, stakeholder dynamics, and bottleneck patterns, this research seeks to provide evidence-based insights into why local medical device innovations fail to reach the market or are frustrated along the way and how these challenges can be addressed. The study employs a mixed-methods design under a Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm. A comprehensive literature review establishes theoretical foundations for innovation systems analysis in medical devices. Empirically, the research integrates (i) a structured, multi-stakeholder survey (n = 90) assessing performance across Innovation System functions (F1–F7) for enterprise, academic, and government actors, and (ii) Event History Analysis of three frustrated innovation case studies spanning 1976–2025, followed by cross-case synthesis. This triangulation generated seven recurrent failure archetypes that explain typical stall points and feedback loops. The thesis makes four contributions. Empirically, it provides a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder functional assessment of South Africa’s medical device innovation system triangulated with longitudinal case narratives. Theoretically, it extends innovation systems scholarship with empirically derived failure archetypes and a contextualised, multi-valley perspective for LMIC settings. Methodologically, it operationalises Event History Analysis for systematic function diagnosis. Practically, it translates evidence into actionable recommendations and a Decision Support Framework (DSF) for innovators, policymakers, and intermediaries. Overall, the research advances an evidence-based, practically usable pathway for diagnosing and remedying systemic weaknesses in South Africa’s medical device innovation system, offering tools and insights with transferability to other LMIC contexts."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Decision-Support Framework for Guiding Local Medical Device Innovation: An Innovation Systems perspective"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Grobbelaar, Sara","Salie, Faatiema","Sivarasu, Sudesh"],"dc:contributor.other":["Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. 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Empirically, the research integrates (i) a structured, multi-stakeholder survey (n = 90) assessing performance across Innovation System functions (F1–F7) for enterprise, academic, and government actors, and (ii) Event History Analysis of three frustrated innovation case studies spanning 1976–2025, followed by cross-case synthesis. This triangulation generated seven recurrent failure archetypes that explain typical stall points and feedback loops. The thesis makes four contributions. Empirically, it provides a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder functional assessment of South Africa’s medical device innovation system triangulated with longitudinal case narratives. Theoretically, it extends innovation systems scholarship with empirically derived failure archetypes and a contextualised, multi-valley perspective for LMIC settings. Methodologically, it operationalises Event History Analysis for systematic function diagnosis. Practically, it translates evidence into actionable recommendations and a Decision Support Framework (DSF) for innovators, policymakers, and intermediaries. Overall, the research advances an evidence-based, practically usable pathway for diagnosing and remedying systemic weaknesses in South Africa’s medical device innovation system, offering tools and insights with transferability to other LMIC contexts."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135981"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University"],"dc:title":["A Decision-Support Framework for Guiding Local Medical Device Innovation: An Innovation Systems perspective"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:40:14Z"}