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- Augustinsson, Sören
(författare)
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Om organiserad komplexitet : integration av organisering, lärande och kunnande
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of the thesis is how organisations can be understood according their own conditions instead of trying to make them more rational and structured than they actually are in practice. In order to accomplish this, the thesis includes theoretical discussions with support in the following central concepts: organisation, learning and knowing. The contents of these concepts are treated as details, but are also to some extent integrated in order to understand organised complexity, which in this case means organisations. A feature of organised complexity is the dynamic character of relations and the fact that the results can be unpredictable. The phenomenon in itself is neither organised nor disorganised, but its most distinguishing feature is what is in between. These perspectives are represented within theories of complex adaptive systems. In this way, the last mentioned theories are used as an entirety, with the three themes, in order to understand organised complexity. By having themes (in this case organisation, learning and knowing) as a starting point, the result is that these central parts can be integrated with support in complex adaptive processes, where nine principles are considered somewhat more important than others. These principles are: self- organising, the future is under constant construction - a never-ending creation, circular causality, process is focused rather than result, paradoxes exist simultaneously, change is normality, small events and fluctuations rather than larger ones lead to change, time aspects are always present, and positive as well as negative feedback is given. These nine principles are crucial, also for the outcome of rational reason. In addition to this, there are roles, relations and interactions, general important concepts in order to understand the process within the three themes and thus organised complexity. In order to look into these concepts and their integration, two case studies are used: a study of a tax office and an ethnographic study of machine operators. The stories, and thus the descriptions, that emerge from the interviews are more ambiguous than logical and rational. In each organisation respectively, different kinds of interaction take place between the different roles, but also between the individual and his or her idea of the content of the role he or she has. Thus, the individual paradoxically appears simultaneously as individual and role. Moreover, relations are ambiguous: to the task, the work management and to other roles. In all these relations, meaning is constructed from roles and interactions, meaning that tends to repeat itself in self-organising processes. First and foremost, these processes take place out of circular causality rather than a simple reasoning of cause and effect . The creation of meaning with the time aspects of the past, the present and the future exist simultaneously as vital parts of interactions. For the machine operator this takes place in relation to the task, the machine, the supervisor, technicians, other operators and others, for tax administrators in relation to staff reductions and other changes initiated by the management. If the nine principles constitute largest possible entirety, then details are represented by the themes and their contents. In all the themes and in theories of complex adaptive processes, role, relation and interaction are recurring concepts. Together, they constitute some of the concepts that enable an analysis of connections between action and interest that are characterised as organised complexity which is constructed by interaction of details.
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| 2. |
- Vänje, Annika, Professor, 1963-
(författare)
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Knäcka Koderna : Praxis kring kön, industriell organisation och ledarskap
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main purpose of this doctoral thesis is to describe, analyse and initiate processes of change from a gender point of view. In the present field study the focus is on gender-creating processes in and around formal and informal structures at an engineering company´s organisation. The central theme is the implication of gender in relation to industrial organisation and leadership.The aim of this thesis is i) to identify processes and praxis in the organisation that create both opportunities and obstacles for women who have made an untraditional choice of career as engineers and managers, ii) on the basis of this knowledge and together with practitioners in the organisation initiate processes of change that will increase the proportion of women managers.The doing-gender approach has been used as a theoretical tool in order to understand the processes surrounding technology, leadership and gender in the organisation. Doing gender allows us to initiate process-thinking about how gender is constructed in different social contexts, such as those in industrial organisations. From a doing-gender perspective the central question is what an individual does and not what he or she is. In other words, the focus is on actions.The methodological approach is action-oriented, using as its starting point an interactive research perspective. The interactive approach has a democratic basic outlook, it combines theoretical understanding with practical action.This doctoral thesis helps to elucidate the complexity of gender-creating structures, processes and practices in an industrial organisation. Its empirical method also shows how researchers and practitioners in the organisation can jointly launch processes of change on the basis of a gender-theoretical basis.The thesis presents a gender-theoretical model for change and analysis that is based on the so-called doing-gender approach. This model has been of importance both as an analytical tool and as a starting point for initiating processes of change. The model has four dimensions and they are dissimilar in character and are more or less demanding of time in bringing about changes. They each have an effect and affect each other in various constellations in the gender-creating processes in organisations.The viewpoints that the doing-gender approach communicates makes it possible to change existing attitudes and expectations concerning gender, since the construction of gender is a continually ongoing process that differs in different contexts.One contribution that this thesis makes is to illuminate the complexity of organisation and gender. It contributes to research by providing empirical examples of gender-creating praxis in an engineering company and by showing how we can work on processes of change from a gender perspective.
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| 5. |
- Rundquist, Jonas, 1964-
(författare)
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Outsourcing and knowledge integration in new product development
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with two aspects of knowledge needed for new product development; theaccess to external knowledge through outsourcing of NPD and the integration of knowledgedeveloped when outsourcing activities in the NPD process. As modern products competing onincreasingly international markets call for both complex and specialized knowledge, it isbecoming more important to take an outward perspective of knowledge, searching for externalknowledge sources, in order to be competitive. But it is also important for the firm to take aninward perspective on integration of the knowledge achieved from external sources in order tosecure the knowledge gained.Outsourcing of New Product Development (NPD) refers to the outsourcing of activities fordeveloping new products (goods and/or service), where all or the innovative part of the NPDprocess is purchased externally according to a contract from organizational units separatefrom the outsourcing firm. This means that the service to develop a whole or a part of a newproduct is outsourced. This definition implies that (A) the outsourced activity shall be aninnovative (strongly contributing to the newness) part of the NPD process, (B) the outsourcedactivity was previously conducted internally, and (C) the activity shall be purchased andregulated in a contractual agreement between the organizations.Knowledge integration refers to the process of acquiring, sharing, and making use ofknowledge by combining it with previous knowledge in order to create new value. Becauseknowledge possessed in collaborating firms is often complementary, it is important tocombine it with previous knowledge in the firm. Therefore knowledge integration is chosenthroughout the thesis as the term for the overall process.Based on transaction costs theory, resource based and knowledge based perspectives twomajor issues are investigated. First, the identification of which factors are the most importantfor firms when making the decision to outsource activities in the NPD process. Second, theestablishment of the importance for knowledge integration of external knowledge in the firm,and to find what role level of involvement among staff plays for efficiently achievingknowledge integration.The thesis is a compilation thesis (with six appended papers) based on findings from threequantitative studies and a longitudinal case study (presented in two of the appended papers).Using cases from and samples of medium-sized manufacturing firms with in-house NPD itwas found that, while cost has been traditionally considered the most important factor foroutsourcing in general, search for external knowledge is found to have a greater importancewhen intangible processes as NPD is object for outsourcing. It is also found that thematicknowledge is the most important type of knowledge to efficiently integrate to achieve highinnovation performance and that a higher degree of processes and culture supportinginvolvement, increase knowledge integration when outsourcing activities in the NPD process.
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| 6. |
- Holmgren, Mattias
(författare)
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Maintenance-related incidents and accidents : aspects of hazard identification
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The satisfaction of stakeholders depends upon the fulfilment of their requirements. Two important stakeholder requirements related to technical systems are dependability and safety. However, system operation will gradually impair its performance leading to potentially hazardous states of the system. Maintenance is all activities aimed at retaining a system in, or restoring it to, a state where it can fulfil the stakeholders’ requirements. However, although maintenance is performed in order to ensure dependability and safety, incorrectly performed maintenance may contribute to accidents with extensive losses. Traditionally, human failures have often been appointed as one major cause of these maintenance-related accidents. However, human failures are not completely satisfactory as an explanation for incidents and accidents since there most often are other contributory causes to these failures. The purpose of this thesis is to explore and describe hazards contributory to maintenance-related incidents and accidents, in order to support continuous risk reduction. To fulfil the stated purpose, two case studies, supported by a literature study, have been performed. One case study focused on documented maintenance-related incidents and accidents within the Swedish railway. The second case study focused on perceived hazards in relation to maintenance execution within the Swedish paper industry. The railway case study indicates that improper infrastructure maintenance is a major cause of collisions and derailments within the Swedish railway. Furthermore, the study indicates that the three major maintenance-related hazards within the Swedish railway system are: communication errors, information retrieval errors and omitted operations. The study also proposes that it is not good enough to accept human failures, i.e. human error or rule violation, as a root cause of maintenance-related incidents and accidents. Both case studies show that a major maintenance-related hazard is insufficient communication between different activities associated with maintenance execution. Another common finding from the studies is that incidents manifested during maintenance execution might be caused by hazards in other maintenance-related activities within the maintenance process. In addition, both case studies show that a proposed process model of maintenance is a valuable support in hazard identification.
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| 7. |
- Johansson, Christian, 1980-
(författare)
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Knowledge maturity as decision support in stage-gate product development : a case from the aerospace industry
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In today’s fast-paced industry where fight for market share is fierce and reaching the market ahead of competition imperative, product development is a target for lead-time reductions. In this context, in product development in stage-gate processes, decisions need to be made even though knowledge and information are scarce and flawed. The challenge is how to support the decisions that are made in light of uncertainty and ambiguity. The thesis moves from analysing the role of the stage-gate process within the aerospace industry. The stage-gate process was more than a decision making mechanism, and instead a mechanism that facilitated communication, discussion and knowledge sharing between team members, as well as supported knowledge creation and shaping of the boundaries between people’s different perceptions of the knowledge base. However, the communicative and negotiative function of the stage-gate was highly dependent on the ability of the participating individuals to reflect on the status and quality of the available knowledge assets used throughout the process. To make this reflective activity an explicit part of the stage-gate practice, this thesis proposes the application of a knowledge maturity concept at the gates to raise the decision makers’ awareness of the status of the knowledge assets handled at the decision point. The knowledge maturity concept considers three basic dimensions: input, method/tool and experience/expertise in assessing the knowledge base maturity. The scale is intended to act as a boundary object, facilitating the knowledge creation process by highlighting the current status of the knowledge base and making stakeholders aware of the nature of the project’s uncertainties and ambiguities. In the knowledge maturity concept, its purpose is to support design teams at the gates in taking appropriate action, mitigating risk and focusing their efforts on improving the knowledge assets where it is needed most, regarding the situation at hand and, finally, to make more confident decisions.The thesis was developed within the EU FP6 VIVACE (Value Improvement through a Virtual Aeronautical Collaborative Enterprise) and EU FP7 CRESCENDO (Collaborative and Robust Engineering using Simulation Capability Enabling Next Design Optimisation) projects, and within the Faste Laboratory, a VINNOVA Excellence Centre involving partners from the Swedish manufacturing industry.
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| 8. |
- Larsson, Andreas
(författare)
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Engineering know-who : why social connectedness matters to global design teams
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The background of this thesis is the development of global, ‘virtual’, collaboration teams in the engineering domain. Distributed concurrent engineering is probably the ‘holy grail’ of current research into collaborative engineering. In this thesis, I seek to identify what some of the challenges for effective distributed collaborative engineering might be. The guiding theme of my work is the assumption that these challenges are not merely technical. Rather, I deal with the challenge of successfully merging what is required ‘socially’ with what is required technically. Methodologically, this thesis draws on an orientation to be found in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), whereby ethnographic approaches – in-situ studies of practice – inform design work. I apply this broad perspective to the specific domain of engineering, and to the specific problem of collaboration at a distance. The thesis relies on work conducted at a number of sites. These include a major Swedish automotive company, distributed collaborative work between Luleå University of Technology, Stanford University, and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and studies undertaken with partner companies in the Polhem Laboratory. This work has evolved towards a focus on aspects of knowledge work and expertise sharing. The contribution of the thesis is to describe and analyse the ways in which ‘Know-Who’ and related concepts are significant features of face-to-face interaction in engineering environments, and thus how they present a challenge for effective distributed collaboration. I identify the ways in which ‘ready-to-hand’ knowledge of practices, knowledge of expertise, and trust in expertise are critical to successful collaboration in engineering work, and reflect upon ways in which these issues can be better integrated into approaches to technical support for this work.
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| 9. |
- Lundgren, Nils, 1962-
(författare)
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Microwave sensors for scanning of sawn timber
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A microwave imaging sensor that measures the signal transmitted through a board was investigated with respect to the ability to predict the distribution of moisture and density in sawn lumber. Furthermore, the response from the sensor was related to strength properties of the boards. Multivariate statistics was used to relate the measured variables to various properties. A finite element model based on X-ray computed tomography images was developed to describe the interactions between microwaves and wood. The model made it possible to simulate the response from the sensor under varying conditions. The results show that microwaves can be used for prediction of density and moisture content. They can also be used for prediction of strength properties, mainly from the correlation to density, but also from the influence on microwaves of structural variations in the wood. The finite element model is useful in the evaluation of microwave sensors for wood, drying equipment or other applications where electromagnetic waves interact with wood.
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| 10. |
- Frishammar, Johan
(författare)
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Towards a theory of managing information in new product development
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with various information aspects of new product development (NPD). In total, the thesis consists of 6 research articles appended in full, and an introductory text that integrates and theorizes with and from these papers.The first paper is a review article examining the literature on and role of information in NPD. The main argument put forward here is that information processing can be understood in terms of three steps: acquiring, sharing, and using information. The second paper is a largescale survey that examines the relationship between market and entrepreneurial orien-tation and performance in NPD. A market orientation is to a large extent about acquiring, disseminating and using market information, while an entrepreneurial orientation partly is about ignoring such information, and instead trying to be innovative, proactive, and take risks. The results show that a market orientation and innovativeness are positively related to NPD performance, and that neither product nor environmental characteristics moderate these relationships. The third paper is also a survey, and investigates the extent to which management of external information is associated with innovation performance. The main findings are that scanning the technological sector of the environment was positively associated with innovation performance, while scanning customers, suppliers, and competitors proved to be negatively correlated with innovation performance. Crossfunctional integration in the form of collaboration as well as using information from the industry environment also proved to be positively related to innovation performance.The last three papers have a centre of gravity in “management of information & environ-ment”, and not so much in new product development per se. Paper four describes and com-pares different information processing approaches (e.g. environmental scanning, marketing research) in order to identify their similarities and differences, but also their underlying con-cepts and the course of events they represent. The main conclusion is that differences exist primarily in terms of focus and scope. Paper five is a review and tentative integration of different perspectives in organization – environment research: the adaptive, the resource-dependence, the cognitive and the population-ecology perspective. The review identifies differences and similarities among these perspectives, suggests tentative conclusions on why the adaptive perspective is so frequently utilized at the expense of the other three, and suggests constructivism as a feasible avenue for combining and integrating these perspectives. Finally, the sixth and final paper deals with information use in the context of strategic decisionmaking. With a case study approach, the questions of why information is used, what kind of information is used, where it is obtained, and how it is obtained were addressed, and the results from this paper are mainly descriptive.The purpose of the introductory text is two-fold. In addition to providing integration of the appended papers, the main purpose is theory construction (i.e. elicitation of constructs and propositions). In the introduction, all six appended papers together with a new literature search and a new pilot case study are used to generate propositions about management of information, information sources, and the need for cross-functional integration in three different phases of the NPD process. In addition, suggestions regarding theoretical connections are made. The introduction text concludes with reflections, managerial implications, limitations, and future research.
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