1.
Röhle, Theo, 1976-
(författare)
Dissecting the Gatekeepers : Relational Perspectives on the Power of Search Engines
2009
Ingår i: Deep Search. - Innsbruck, Wien, Bozen : Studienverlag. - 9783706547956 ; , s. 117-132
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The paper engages in an in-depth discussion of the search engine Google, focusing on its relationship to webmasters and users. Attempts by webmasters to game the ranking system in order to boost the position of their websites are met by Google with a subtle combination of rewards and punishment. It is argued that this strategy involves the establishment of a disciplinary regime that enforces a certain norm for web publishing. Google’s relationship to the users, on the other hand, is characterized by less invasive forms of power. By inserting itself deeply into the users’ information environment, Google can collect and analyze unprecedented amounts of user data. It is argued that the modeling of segmented consumption behavior that these schemes are based upon involves a governmental form of power. It is a kind of power that aims at controlling differential behavior patterns by gaining an intimate statistical knowledge of a population and using this knowledge as a means of predictive risk management.
2.
Spante, Maria, 1967
(författare)
Connected Practice: The Dynamics of Social Interaction in Shared Virtual Environment
2009
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This thesis investigates the phenomenon of social interaction in shared virtual environments (SVEs), supported by virtual reality (VR) systems over time. SVEs are computer generated 3D graphical spaces where geographically distributed people can meet and interact with each other in a graphical space. Although there have been a number of studies about social interaction in SVEs, there has been a lack of research looking into changes over time, which this thesis does.In order to gain more knowledge about social interaction over the longer term, this thesis compares and contrasts four different types of VR systems that supported various SVEs. Two of the systems were internet based SVEs on desktop computers where many users could interact at the same time. One of the SVEs had voice based communication. The other SVE had text based communication. The other two were based in laboratory settings. One setting was networked immersive projection technologies (IPT) in which two participants performed a variety of tasks together. The other was one IPT connected to a desktop VR and participants changed systems half way through the trial in which they collaboratively solved a task together. In both settings voice based communication were used. Observations and other methods of analysis were carried out, focusing on differences and similarities in peoples behaviors in the process of social interaction over time in SVEs.The six papers contained in this thesis explore social interaction over time in shared virtual environments. This thesis argues that technology becomes not only a tool for social interaction; it also becomes a key aspect in social interaction. While the technology filters out some of the social cues we are familiar with from face to face situations, it also ‘filters in’ new cues that become important for how people can connect to each other in the shared virtual environment. Over time, these social cues, that people creates among themselves while using the technology, become essential for people learn about; otherwise they find it difficult to relate to each other and do things together in the shared virtual environments.The more difficulties people have in figuring out how to use the technology while interacting with others, the less they will accept the technology as an appropriate tool for connecting people and doing things together. The reason for this is that social and technical issues can only be separated analytically in shared virtual environments; in practice, as this thesis shows, they are highly intertwined.This thesis puts forward a dynamic model identifying the importance of looking more explicitly at individuals, technology, task and time while studying social interaction in SVEs. In this way, the thesis combines a number of insights both from previous social science theories of social interaction and practices - together with observations from the studies this thesis builds on. The thesis puts forward a concept that includes these insights - connected practice, defined as the dynamics of social interaction in technical systems. This concept can guide future studies to incorporate both technical and social aspects over time since it was shown to be the key to understanding the phenomenon of this thesis. It is finally suggested in the thesis that the concept connected practice can be utilized in other technical systems apart from SVEs in future research of social interaction in technical systems.
3.
4.
Röhle, Theo, 1976-
(författare)
Desperately seeking the consumer : Personalized search engines and the commercial exploitation of user data
2007
Ingår i: First Monday. - : University of Illinois Libraries. - 1396-0466. ; 12:9
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
With reference to surveillance studies theory, this paper critically assesses the role of personalized search engines as a mediator between advertisers and users. It first sketches the economic and technical background of online marketing and personalized searches. Then, it engages in an in-depth discussion of two examples of personalized search engines with regard to the data collection process used and the way in which this data is used for advertising purposes. The discussion shows that users' information needs, as well as their personal data, are subject to a growing pressure in terms of commercial exploitation. Essentially, search engines now fulfill the task of translating information needs into consumption needs.
5.
Röhle, Theo, 1976-
(författare)
’Think of it first as an advertising system’ : Personalisierte Online-Suche als Datenlieferant des Marketings
2007
Ingår i: Kommunikation@gesellschaft. - 1616-2617. ; 8:1
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Suchmaschinen gehören seit langem zu den wichtigsten Werbeträgern im Netz und es wird mittlerweile offen zugestanden, dass die gezielte Vermarktung von Werbeplätzen sich zur Kernaufgabe der Suchmaschinenbetreiber entwickelt hat. Um dem Ruf nach relevanteren Suchergebnissen nachkommen zu können, binden neue Formen der personalisierten Suche immer weitere Bereiche des Nutzerverhaltens in den Suchprozess ein, gleichzeitig schaffen die gesammelten Daten aber auch die Grundlage für eine noch engere Verzahnung ökonomischer Interessen mit dem persönlichen Nutzungskontext. Mit Bezug auf aktuelle Theoriebildung aus den "Surveillance studies" diskutiert der Beitrag die Rolle der personalisierten Suche als Bindeglied zwischen Nutzer und Werbung. Sowohl die Entwicklung der Online-Werbung als auch die technischen Grundlagen der personalisierten Suche werden skizziert, um schließlich an zwei konkreten Beispielen zu erläutern, welche Daten bei der personalisierten Suche erhoben werden und wie diese zu Werbezwecken verwendet werden können. Dabei wird deutlich, dass die zunächst zur Verbesserung der Suchergebnisse erhobenen Nutzerinformationen einem immer stärkeren kommerziellen Verwertungsdruck ausgesetzt sind.
6.
Zimmerman, Ewa, et al.
(författare)
Emergent functions in Intranet information management
2003
Ingår i: Knowledge Management in Electronic Government. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 9783540401452 - 9783540448365 ; , s. 186-191
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
Organizations and municipalities implements advanced information technology, intranets, in order to enhance information management within the organization.. This technology is implemented with great reliance on the technology aspect. New functions emerge as a consequence of technology, functions not planned for. This paper puts focus one such function, the key persons responsible for publishing on intranets. A descriptive study shows that these persons do exist and describes some problems they appreciate.
7.
8.
Kjellin, Harald, et al.
(författare)
Minimizing the time spent on transformations between computer independent models and platform independent models
2008
Ingår i: Asproth, V. (ed), Proceedings of 31th Information Systems Research Seminar in Scandinavia. - Sundsvall : Mittuniversitetet. - 9789186073121
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
A well known trade-off effect with modelling is that when it is user friendly it becomes ambiguous and when it has a formal notation, that makes it unambiguous, it becomes less user friendly. A well known solution to this dilemma is to use models on various levels of formalism where the least formalized models are known to be more user friendly and the most formalized models are well suited for being directly translated to program code. This article investigates how the user friendliness at an informal level can be combined with the accuracy needed at a more formal level of modeling. It aims at combining an informal user friendly perspective with a formal developer perspective in order to minimize the time spent on transformation mapping between user friendly models and developer models. Theoretical data and empirical data indicates possibilities of minimizing the work with transformations between models. The results show that a number of developed criteria can be used to secure the user friendliness of models that are used in communications between the designer and the end user.
9.
Björnström, Johan, 1975, et al.
(författare)
Role of action research in dealing with a traditional process
2009
Ingår i: Performance Improvement in Construction Management. - 9781135998363 ; , s. 102-114
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Effective strategic management is becoming an increasingly important issue both for practitioners and management scholars. Not only is the process of formulating and implementing strategies given higher priority, but the role and meaning of strategies are also changing (Price, 2003). In the construction industry, however, relatively few companies seem, as yet, to have established a formal strategy process, even though there is considered to be greater awareness of the importance of effective strategic management to enhance performance and profitability (Junnonen, 1998). In the purportedly conservative construction industry, actors prefer adhering to the ‘business as usual’ mindset, which often results in a drift of strategic meanings and ultimate blurring of the organization’s strategic position (Johnson et al., 2005). Following a number of reports of companies’ failure to implement strategies (see, for example, Allio, 2005; Corboy and O’Corrbui, 1999; Kaplan and Norton, 2001), the attention of practitioners and researchers is now shifting from the formulation process to implementation dilemmas (Aaltonen and Ikavalko, 2002). The already growing body of research into strategy implementation seems to agree that one of the main reasons for failure is ineffective organizational communication caused by a lack of consideration of the social environment at the strategy execution level of the organization (Miniace and Falter, 1996). Yet, what is meant by the term ‘communication’ is not defined, and just a few studies have focused on the discursive and rhetorical aspects of strategy communication (Fairhurst et al., 1997; Johansson, 2003; Müllern and Stein, 1999). These studies typically describe managerial strategic communication as being transactional rather than interactional, monologic rather than dialogic and top-down rather than bottom-up. They also characterize strategic rhetoric at the top level of management as abstract rather than concrete, idealistic rather than realistic and distanced rather than proximal. To our knowledge, no such studies have been carried out in the construction industry. The overall purpose of this chapter is, therefore, to report preliminary results from a longitudinal case study of the strategy work carried out in a large Swedish construction company during a period of organizational change. Our concern here is the ways in which the new strategies are communicated down the chain of command in the company: from top management levels via middle management to project management. We focus on the face-to-face communications used by the different managerial levels to disseminate the corporate strategy and the implications this has on the ways in which the strategies are interpreted and understood. Of particular interest in these interactions are the underlying reasons for the different approaches toward strategy implementation. We hope to contribute some insights into the complexity of communicative processes and practices and argue that organizations need to view discursive processes and practices as an integral part of organizing.
10.
Gustavsson, Per M., 1965-, et al.
(författare)
Machine Interpretable Representation of Commander's Intent
2008
Ingår i: Proceedings of the 13th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (13th ICCRTS).
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat) abstract
The Network-Centric approach envisioned in the Global Information Grid enables the interconnection of systems in a dynamic and flexible architecture to support multi-lateral, civilian and military missions. Constantly changing environments require commanders to plan for missions that allow organizations from various nations and agencies to join or separate from the teams performing the missions, depending on the situation, as missions unfold. The uncertainty within an actual mission, and the variety of potential organizations that support the mission after it is underway, makes Command Intent (CI) a critical concept for the mission team. With new and innovative information technologies, CI can now be made available to the team of organizations in a coalition environment. Using a flexible and linguistically based approach for representing CI allows Intent to be interpreted and processed by all participants – both humans and machines. CI representations need to be able to express mission team’s purpose, the anticipated End-State of the mission and desired key tasks. In this work, the expression of CI is developed to enable the structure and dynamics of collaboration support.
