| 1. |
- Lagrosen, Yvonne, 1966, et al.
(författare)
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Kvalitetsutveckling i sjukvården
- 2006
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Ingår i: HEL. - Göteborg : Sahlgrenska akademin vid Göteborgs universitet. - 9197613606 ; , s. 112-121
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 2. |
- Brink, Johan, 1976
(författare)
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Accumulation, Boundaries, Capabilities and Dynamics - Explaining Firm Growth
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to further develop the theoretical understanding of the growth of knowledge intensive business organizations. The overall aim is to understand the growth challenges of emerging firms in the knowledge-based economy. In particular this thesis addresses several aspects of the growth of small bioscience based firms. In a world characterized by global markets and rapid information transfer, the existence of firms can no longer be justified by established products and defence of old positions. The traditional logic of economic activities and industrial organization has instead increasingly been replaced by dynamic Schumpeterian competition in which firms compete based upon knowledge and innovations. This thesis depart in the emergent theories of evolutionary economics which focus on economic action and firm behaviour in a restless disequilibrium and endogenous technological change (Nelson and Winter 1982). Within such a restless capitalistic society, new firms play a central role in economic development. As a consequence, economic as well as management researchers has increased their interest in entrepreneurship and industrial dynamics. The emergence and growth new firms have been found to relate to both the introduction and diffusion of new knowledge, innovations, as well as generators of new employment. The growth of new firms is hence vital to understand from the perspective of industrial dynamic throughout the process of Schumpeterian competition and technological evolution and in the longer perspective, economic growth. The thesis is structured around the general, puzzling phenomenon of the relative absence of growing firms within this specific technological and industrial context. In order to investigate the research problem a theoretical framework is put together along two main dimensions. The first consists of a review of the research field of firm growth including such as entrepreneurial and organizational aspects. The second dimension provides a theoretical outline regarding the specific industrial and institutional environment and thus presents a context in which these new firms evolve. The focus within this thesis is primarily on the growth of the individual business organizations. The initial research problem centres around the empirically evident relative low growth rates of bioscience based firms. As a consequence of this low growth rate of firms, the industrial dynamics is instead shaped by entries of new actors, creating a highly turbulent industry. According to the dominant theories of the firm, the reasons for performing activities within the institutional form of a business organization, resulting in economic advantages of being inside the boundaries. Such knowledge and innovation based competition should be seen in the context of the firm’s unique trajectory and as a process of accumulation of associated specific capabilities and distinctive competences. Innovation is thus a process of knowledge accumulation of both internal and external learning, influenced by the specific context in which the firm resides. The lack of growth of new knowledge intensive firms within this specific industry is thus found in the complexities of knowledge accumulation as generating firm capabilities for further actions. The pressure on innovativeness and the ability for firms both to foster and take advantages of knowledge raises several issues regarding growth of knowledge intensive business organizations. Altogether understanding firm growth within this context might potentially be seen as role models for increasingly knowledge intensive firms within other industries. Even with more modest implications such findings might have profound effect when limited to the studied industrial context.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Stenberg, Ann-Charlotte, 1967
(författare)
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The Social Construction of Green Building: Diachronic and Synchronic Perspectives
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- AbstractAlthough environmental issues have been on the agendas of governments, businesses and scientists for at least three decades, there still remain conceptual difficulties concerning what environment or green actually encompass. The concepts are in constant flux, shifting as actors who represent different social relevant groups struggle to find support for their specific interests.The overall aim of this research is to contribute new insight concerning the processes through which environmental issues are represented and given meaning in the Swedish building sector. To fulfill this purpose, three research questions have been formulated, all of them focusing on different organizational levels: how are environmental issues (1) framed? (2) made sense of?, and (3) acted upon? Furthermore, to understand the social construction of green building, the topic has been addressed from a diachronic and a synchronic perspective. The thesis draws on theories of social construction of technology, institutional change, travel of ideas, sensemaking and identity construction to explicate the qualitative empirical data, which is mainly collected through interviews, written documents, and field observations.Green building is a contested discursive terrain, where relevant groups struggle for the preferential right of interpretation of green. The plurality of meanings enacted in several distinct logics can result in widely differing problem formulations and contradictory solutions. On organizational level, contesting views may mobilize counter-action or non-action, which is destructive for strategic environmental work. The trade magazines bias towards technical measures and their proclivity toward traditional definitions regarding environmental impacts may lock practitioners into a technocratic logic. Environmental areas that are not formulated areas of key concern risk being taken for granted, i.e., being black-boxed. Accordingly, development within these areas may stagnate, especially since those who make strategic environmental decisions in the companies are not the same people who possess environmental expertise. For environmental issues to be enacted at all levels of a company, the environmental experts would need to be empowered with a decision-making mandate. To succeed, the environmental work has to be given adequate resources and also be legitimized by the business management.To conclude, there is no one true notion of green building. Instead, it is a social construct with multiple interpretations, which is not only a constraint, but may also function as a driver for change and development.
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| 5. |
- Westholm, Lisa, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of existing global financial initiatives and monitoring aspects of carbon sinks in forest ecosystems – The issue of REDD
- 2009
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The objective of this report is to explore the topic of carbon sinks in forest ecosystems, focusing on the issue of REDD. The report covers different angles: i) an overview of existing financial and methodological initiatives that currently invest in preparation and capacity building of potential REDD host countries, but also in REDD pilot projects, ii) the preparedness of potential host countries (Bolivia, Cameroon, Costa Rica and Sri Lanka) to establish baselines and implement a REDD system that contributes to sustainable development, and iii) the funding structure and channels of a major investor country (Norway). The focus of our analysis lies on two REDD-related issues; baseline establishment and sustainable development.
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| 6. |
- Sanz-Velasco, Stefan, 1970
(författare)
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Entrepreneurial learning: Developing opportunities and business models
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this dissertation is to explore and describe the entrepreneurial process with an emphasis on how technology-based entrepreneurs learn as they perceive and exploit opportunities. The thesis draws on a variety of entrepreneurship-oriented literature such as Austrian economics, entrepreneurial learning and the resource-based view, and it features four empirical studies, primarily among start-up ventures in the emerging Swedish mobile Internet industry.The results indicate that the dominant opportunity discovery conceptualisation can be reconceptualised as opportunity development to better represent the processual nature of technology-based entrepreneurship. This would also enhance our possibilities to develop tools and models of use for practitioners. The initial opportunity perceptions in these start-ups are often rudimentary, and then substantially developedin processes that may be iterative, intrusive and interactive. Another conclusion is the need to attend to entrepreneurial learning in order to better understand opportunity development, thereby rendering our view of the entrepreneurial process more dynamic. In doing so, the thesis illustrates how entrepreneurial learning can be analysed at the infrequently used venture level, and thereby contributes to entrepreneurial learning literature.A concept that has been derived from a number of theories is presented: the business model. The concept allows analyses of entrepreneurial learning, but also captures the development of opportunities over time, partly because it addresses core dimensions of the entrepreneurial process. The value of using the business model as an analytical tool is accentuated by its role as a boundary object between researchers and practitioners. The empirical studies also suggest that entrepreneurial learning in the venture often takes place through experimentation with different business models. In view of the observed need for business model changes in early phases, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists might advantageously delay committing large resources until the business model of a venture has stabilised. The idea of business modelling as a disciplined method for developing the business model is launched. It concerns making important assumptions explicit and turning them into hypotheses that are tested on the market. Unsuccessful ones are refuted, whereas success is considered to demonstrate viability.Depicting business modelling as a method leads to the concept of learning methodologiesrecurrent patterns of thought and actionwhich is suggested as a contribution to entrepreneurial learning literature. To discuss the association of learning with performance, it is argued that we must first determine what learning methodology is present. The dissertation shows one example of learning methodologies that correlate positively with venture growth. Analogously to earlier research aiming to correlate individual traits with success, it is consequently suggested that learning methodologies might serve as a complementary approach.
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| 7. |
- Florén, Henrik, 1972-
(författare)
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Managerial work and learning in small firms
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with how managerial work sets the agenda for managerial learning in small firms. Although studies of learning in organizations are numerous, research on managerial learning in the small-firm context is limited. In particular, our knowledge of managerial learning suffers from an insufficient understanding of what top managers in small firms do. The primary purpose of this thesis is to describe how the work of small-firm managers sets the agenda for managerial learning, and how their learning can be supported. Additionally, the thesis explores the use of so-called “Action Technologies” in supporting managerial learning in small firms.Drawing on an observational study of six owner-managers in small (17-43 employees) manufacturing firms, and a synthesis of earlier studies, this thesis shows that three features of managerial work shape managerial learning in small firms: The small firm’s top manager (i) operates in context with specific structural conditions that affect his/her behavior, (ii) have certain cognitive predispositions guiding his/her behavior, and (iii) have certain behavioral preferences directing his/her behavior.The main argument in this thesis is that managerial learning in small firms is made difficult due to features that make it hard to come to a point where learning (in terms of reflection and conceptualization) is given time and resources, as the manager has trouble in finding time for learning, and as learning risks to become low-priority. Learning is also difficult due to barriers related to the learning process: the work of the manager fosters a superficial learning orientation, makes it difficult to probe deeply into and to develop complicated understandings of issues at hand, and makes peer-learning rarely possible.Drawing on an action research project of managerial learning in four networks of small-firm owner-managers, the thesis also explores, in a concrete manner, how managerial learning might be supported in a way that circumvents the deficient situation for managerial learning in this kind of firm. More specifically, it seems that Action Technologies by their design constitute a learning context that supports the learning of the small-firm top manager by dissolving the barriers to learning identified above.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Erlandsson, Johan, 1973
(författare)
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ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN COMPANIES –TOWARDS AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
- 2006
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Ingår i: 13th International Greening of Industry Network Conference.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The generation and use of relevant, accessible, comparable and understandable environmental information on company and product level is needed in companies both for business reasons and for different types of reporting requirements from stakeholders. However, there are several known problems to environmental information management in the industry. Ambiguous information, high time consumption, high costs, low organisational memory, low availability and a poor product information flow are just a few.The PhD project Towards Integrated Environmental Information Systems aims to contribute to increased knowledge about preconditions, barriers and possibilities for environmental information systems in the industry. Site related environmental information as well as product related information is included in the scope of the project. The main research method is field studies of companies, and a framework for analysing field study results about environmental information management in the industry is presented in this paper. The construction of the framework, which is work in progress, is based on the results of a pilot field study of one company and a literature review. The pilot field study results suggest a preliminary analytical framework, where a company's environmental information management can be analysed through four groups of prerequisites; drivers, format, IT systems and organisation.The literature review aims to describe and analyse different approaches and initiatives that have been and are being taken to describe, analyse and improve environmental information management in companies. Environmental accounting and suggested methods for improving environmental data management addresses the actual procedures of environmental information management. IT systems and organisation design can be seen as facilitators of these procedures. Different policy initiatives are examples of external drivers for environmental information management. Internally, life cycle assessments, environmental management systems and environmental information for marketing purposes create a need for environmental information management.
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| 10. |
- Erlandsson, Johan, 1973
(författare)
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Product-Specific Environmental Information and Environmental Management Accounting
- 2006
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Ingår i: Environmental Management Accounting and Cleaner Production.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Product related environmental information is gaining increased attention, but todays generation and availability of such information could be significantly improved. In parallel with the increased product focus, the concept and practice of Environmental Management Accoun¬ting (EMA) is evolving. Even if EMA by definition seem to facilitate the generation of product related environmental information, current EMA practice suggest that this so far is not the case. The concepts of Site-specific LCA and Internal ecological accounting could push the development of EMA in this direction if they are further developed.
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