| 1. |
- Björkdahl, Joakim, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Getting on track for digital work: Digital transformation in an administrative court before and during COVID-19
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Professions and Organization. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2051-8803 .- 2051-8811. ; 8:3, s. 374-393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyses organizational change and new ways of working in one of our most institutionalized and professionalized contexts-the courts. Here, digital technologies and the implementation of digital work practices carry great promise as they enable more accessible and qualitative services to be produced more efficiently and effectively. While prior studies have shown that institutionalized and professionalized actors are reluctant to respond to change, attempts to change work practices through digital technologies remain understudied. In particular, we do not know how COVID-19 has influenced the motivation and implementation of digitalized work. This article draws on a large Swedish administrative court and its attempts to digitalize its work starting in 2018. We find that several barriers first inhibited a successful transformation of work practices. These barriers were connected to the institution of the court and the institutionalized profession of judges, which worked together in preventing organizational change. However, COVID-19 radically accelerated the digital implementation of work practices and gave rise to two separate re-assessment processes. The first established new motivations for digitalized work, and the second allowed for a new perception of value in digital work. These processes effectively broke down perceived barriers and substantially facilitated a more successful digital transformation of working practices.
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| 2. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, et al.
(författare)
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'Being a professional is not the same as acting professionally'-How digital technologies have empowered the creation and enactment of a new professional identity in law
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Professions and Organization. - : Oxford Univ Press. - 2051-8811 .- 2051-8803. ; 10:2, s. 99-119
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper shows that digital technologies have empowered new work practices and identity work in the setting of the legal profession in five different countries. Using qualitative data from 33 interviews with legal tech lawyers, supported by workplace and conference observations and photographs, we analyse how legal tech lawyers use social and material attributes to craft and enact a new identity. This identity is distinctly different from the established professional identity of lawyers, showing that legal tech lawyers see, and express, themselves as legal professionals in a broader sense, rather than identifying with traditional law. This paper explains how technology has functioned as an enabler for them to craft this new identity, much influenced by how, where, and when their work is done. The paper supports and extends a sociomaterial approach to understanding the implications of digital transformation and shows the potential of looking into the development of professional identities in this transformation.
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| 3. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Beyond digital inventions—diffusion of technology and organizational capabilities to change
- 2019
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Ingår i: Perspectives in Law, Business and Innovation. - Singapore : Springer Singapore. - 2520-1883 .- 2520-1875. ; , s. 123-146
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Digitalization is currently creating numerous opportunities for value creation in intellectual industries. In the legal industry however, the vast majority of law firms have remained the same without responding to the rising opportunities. The reluctance in the mainstream legal industry to adopt new digital technologies has created a duality to the field (with legal tech enthusiasts on one side and traditional sceptics on the other). This chapter explores why and discusses the connection between industrial diffusion and capabilities to change residing in individual firms. We relate digitalization to technological shifts in the past and explore the specific challenges and barriers for a digital transformation among law firms. We find that most law firms neither have the technological capabilities nor the economical motivation to change, why digitalization has, instead, become a source of fear. However, in order to seize digital opportunities and adapt to the constantly, and rapidly, changing environment, law firms need to overcome this fear and develop organizational capabilities to change. We conclude that for a true industrial transformation—beyond digital inventions—we cannot only focus on the presence of new technologies but we also need to address the diffusion of them.
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| 4. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Difficulties to digitalize: ambidexterity challenges in law firms
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Service Theory and Practice. - : Emerald Group Publishing. - 2055-6225 .- 2055-6233. ; 33:2, s. 217-236
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This paper aims to understand what prevents established law firms from embracing digitalization and discusses barriers to solving the emerging ambidexterity problem. Law firms have been organized in the same way for decades. However, digital opportunities are emerging and new competitors are challenging established firms. This presents established law firms with an ambidexterity problem: How can law firms simultaneously uphold their successful way of working while entering a new world of digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning? Design/methodology/approach: Previous research suggests that law firms are slow in digital transformation, compared to other Professional Service Firms (PSFs). In this paper, the authors explore why this happens. Interview data from representatives in law firms are complemented with data from architects as well as legal industry data and field notes. The data have been analyzed to spot patterns and emerging themes. Findings: The authors find that established law firms face structural and cultural barriers to applying ambidextrous solutions. When comparing law firms with architecture firms, the authors see that while established architecture firms have combined digital exploration with ongoing exploitation, established law firms have focused on exploitation, leaving digital exploration to new legal tech firms. This difference can be attributed to industry context and professional culture. Originality/value: This paper shows that both structural and contextual ambidexterity is a challenge for established law firms. This paper contributes to the understanding of barriers to embrace digital technology, and supports practitioners in efforts to remove these barriers.
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| 5. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, 1979
(författare)
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Digital innovation in law firms: The dominant logic under threat
- 2020
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Ingår i: Creativity and Innovation Management. - : Wiley. - 0963-1690 .- 1467-8691. ; 29:3, s. 512-527
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper focuses on the impact of digitalization in the legal industry. The legal industry is highly institutionalized and has for long been unaffected by external changes. This has enabled the development of a strong institutional logic that has dictated homogeneous practices in law firms and limited their room for innovation. However, this seems about to change. Through a qualitative case study of the Swedish legal industry, this paper shows that new practices, enabled by digitalization, challenges common practices and puts the dominant logic under threat. By applying an institutional logics perspective to recent changes, this paper contrasts the enactment of the dominant logic with innovative practices and shows that digitalization has created institutional complexity, where digital pioneers respond to digital opportunities differently than incumbents. This paper also explains why and highlights the emergence of hybrid firms that successfully combine elements of the dominant logic with innovation. Consequently, this paper contributes to our understanding of digital innovation and digital transformation within highly institutional industries.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, 1979
(författare)
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How Digitalization Changes our Understanding of Professional Service Firms
- 2020
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Ingår i: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT DISCOVERIES. - : Academy of Management. - 2168-1007. ; 6:3, s. 436-454
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The digital transformation currently at play changes the conditions for firms across different industries which challenges the way we have previously understood them. As the economy is becoming increasingly knowledge-based and service-oriented, the professional service firms ("PSFs") are of particular importance. Being characterized by high knowledge intensity, low capital intensity, and professionalized workforces, these firms have developed certain management practices and organizational forms. However, despite being persistent and remarkably successful over time, PSFs are starting to change. This article suggests that digitalization is the driver of these changes and draws on empirical data fromlawfirms to analyze the effects of digitalization on the distinctive characteristics of PSFs. The findings show that digitalization enables legal service delivery at lower levels of knowledge intensity, whereas it increases capital intensity for most firms and decreases the professionalization of the workforce. Consequently, this article argues that digitalization has changed the distinctive characteristics of PSFs, which promotes new practices, allows for variation, and transforms their competitive contexts. In light of these findings, we should reconsider our understanding of PSFs.
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| 8. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Responding to the COVID-19 crisis: the rapid turn toward digital business models
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management. - 2053-4639 .- 2053-4620. ; 15:3, s. 451-467
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose The effects of the spread of COVID-19 across the world are devastating, both from a health and an economic perspective. However, we also see encouraging examples of collaborative and innovative initiatives, in society and in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to focus on initiatives related to digital business model innovation. The authors explore how organizational characteristics provide a variety of opportunities for digital responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss the potential consequences for the speed of digital transformation in organizations and society. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors analyze how organizations attempt to mitigate the negative effects of fighting COVID-19 using digital business model responses. The authors draw on a qualitative study where they have collected data from the retail and service industries. They have analyzed the data in relation to theory to better understand this ongoing phenomenon. Findings The authors have identified four categories of organizations (crisispreneurs, accelerators, endurers and thrivers). Each category faces different challenges and shows a different intensity in their digital transformation. The authors propose that the rapid turn toward digital business models will have enduring effects, as organizations have gained transformational capabilities that will remain, and that the digital trajectory has, as a result, changed forever. Originality/value The findings in this paper point toward new challenges for leaders and policymakers in terms of how to support initiatives and meet the needs of different categories of organizations while simultaneously being conscious of the potential societal effects of this rapid digital shift. The authors hope that this paper can be of value for managing this shock and learning how to adapt for the future taking certain aspects of current business models as the departure point.
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| 9. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, et al.
(författare)
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Revision i en digital kontext
- 2023
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Ingår i: Revision – i går, i dag och i morgon. - Stockholm : Ekerlids förlag. - 9789189323711 ; , s. 354-376
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 10. |
- Kronblad, Charlotta, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Smart contracts - Not so smart legal professionals?
- 2018
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Ingår i: Jusletter IT. - 1664-848X.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Smart contracts are becoming all smarter and increasingly available. Yet there seems to be a reluctance in mainstream industry to actually use them. It seems hard to convince general counsel, law firms, and purchasers of legal services to implement smart systems. This is a challenge for the providers of smart technology. The technology is not the problem - successful implementation is. The aim of this paper is to explore the resistance and gatekeepers within the legal industry, potentially resulting in a better understanding of how to overcome the barriers and use available smart technology. © 2018 Editions Weblaw. All rights reserved.
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