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- Aramo-Immonen, Heli, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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Managing Cultural Knowledge in Project Execution
- 2015
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In: IFKAD 2015. - : Institute of Knowledge Asset Management (IKAM). - 9788896687079 ; , s. 1085-1096
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to explore the factors through which the project implementation phase could be enhanced by cultural knowledge. The importance of studying this subject is that the exploitation of cultural knowledge (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, Schwartz 1999, Ng et al. 2006, Hall 1976, Lewis 2006) and competence (Koskinen 2001) is still limited in the constantly increasing project-based business (Turner 1999, Artto et al. 2011, PMBOK 2004) in the international field. Two objectives exist in this study: understanding project complexity through the main challenges in project implementation and evaluating the impacts of the cultural factors behind them.We propose the multiple case study approach (Eisenhard & Graebner 2007, Yin 2014).The prominence of cultural knowledge in project implementation is difficult to determine, so the research design has exploratory features. Case project A was implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa and Case project B in the Near East. Interviewed managers worked either from distance and only visited the target country periodically or represented the perspective of an operational level manager working in the host country. The main cultural challenges that occurred in the projects are defined by these interviewees.This methodology gives evidence of the main challenges in the two case projects and clarifies the multiplicity of cultural issues in the project context. The importance of the subject was highlighted and the interviewed managers demonstrated that cultural knowledge can offer benefits. Numerous studies exist concerning the challenges in the project business (Deresky 2014, Turner 1999).The outcomes of the research stressed the uniqueness of projects and the situational need for cultural knowledge. The results highlighted the pervasive nature of culture in the international playing field. Companies are obliged to adjust their operations according to environments with multifaceted requirements. National cultures not only prevail within the borders of geographical areas, but are also reflected in company procedures. Therefore, their overall impact needs to be considered in international projects.
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| 2. |
- Jussila, Jari J., et al.
(author)
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Social media applications in external B2B transactions : An empirical analysis of the Finnish technology industry
- 2015
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In: IFKAD 2015. - : Institute of Knowledge Asset Management (IKAM). - 9788896687079 ; , s. 1930-1940
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite the popularity of the topic, social media research is still limited and focuses largely on the role of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-consumer (B2C) domains (Volpentesta and Felicetti, 2012; Michaelidou et al., 2011). In many aspects, B2C social media practices are not directly useful for inter- organizational and business-to-business (B2B) purposes. The main aim of this paper is to increase the understanding of the current applications of social media in external B2B transactions. This is carried out through an extensive survey of companies in the technology industry which are operating purely in B2B markets, having only other companies as customers.We wanted to understand how industrial B2B companies currently apply social media in their own inter- organizational applications, what potential they see for social media in this context, and what kind of support they need to better adopt social media together with their customers and partners. A population of 2488 Finnish decision makers from the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries were observed. Based on the answers of 143 different companies, 125 companies were found to wholly (100%) represent B2B markets, and these were chosen as the sample of this particular study.Studies on social media, especially survey-based studies, have not focused soley on B2B companies, particularly on the inter-organizational applications of social media in B2Bs, except for the B2B-marketing oriented study of Michaelidou et al. (2011) and the study of social media utilization in B2B relationships by Pettersson et al. (2014). This study extends these previous studies by creating new understanding of the maturity of social media integration in businesses, organizational business problems that companies perceive can be solved with social media, and approaches that can support social media adoption in B2B companies.Managerially, the results can be used, for instance, to better understand the various possibilities of applying social media for inter-organizational use in B2Bs, which are currently only superficially understood by a significant portion of managers. This can help support and facilitate external social media use in B2Bs.
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| 3. |
- Nisula, Anna-Maija, et al.
(author)
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Art based practices of improvisation in shaping organizing for creativity and creative organization
- 2015
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In: Culture, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. - : Institute of Knowledge Asset Management. - 9788896687079 ; , s. 661-676
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE – The purpose of the paper is to study the role of art based practices in driving and shaping the organizing for creativity (organizational creativity). The paper examines how the art based practices driven from improvisational theater could help in conceptualizing and shaping an organizing for creativity (organizational creativity). APPROACH – The paper draws from literature studies to conceptualize organizational creativity as an organizing for creativity. The study forms a framework to understand organizing for creativity and explore how the art based practices of improvisational theater (collective improvisation) could enhance it. ORIGINALITY – This methodology puts in evidence conceptualization of organizational creativity from a novel point of view i.e. from the point of view of organizing. In contrast to ownership and outcome oriented views of creativity, the study aims to understand organizational creativity more as an interaction and interrelated activities of various actors within a system. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS – The outcomes of the application provide a framework for management to understand organizational creativity as creative organizing and to utilize the art based practices, specifically from improvisational theater, to foster it. Hence, organizing for creativity means the utilization of various novel and temporary forms of organizing (for example, such as inter-organizational crowdsourcing) for the achievement of organizational goals.
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| 4. |
- Simeone, Luca
(author)
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‘Deploy or die’ : The role of design in supporting entrepreneurial processes at the MIT Media Lab
- 2015
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In: Culture, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. - : Institute of Knowledge Asset Management. - 9788896687079 ; , s. 1552-1566
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- PURPOSE – Nowadays, thanks to conditions such as agile manufacturing (e.g., using affordable machines like 3-D printers, laser cutters, small CNCs or Pick & Place), low production costs and quick execution cycles, it is easier to turn ideas into a finished product ready to be distributed. Joi Ito, the director of the MIT Media Lab, created the slogan ‘Deploy or die’ precisely to encourage the researchers of the lab to take these conditions into consideration and to push their projects up to the production stage (and thus beyond the creation of a demo). This paper examines how design is used at the Media Lab to support this ‘deploy or die’ approach and, consequently, to foster entrepreneurial processes fuelled by the research activities of the lab. The paper contends that design activities - such as user research and user testing, rapid and frequent prototyping, visualization techniques, co-design, attention to the brand experience – contribute in igniting and sustaining the ‘deploy or die’ approach. APPROACH – The study is the result of an investigation - also based on ethnographic methods – conducted by the author in the city of Cambridge, MA across 2011 and 2014. The application of an ethnographic approach with the direct involvement of researchers in the field has proven to be a common element of a good number of recent studies on organizations (Czarniawska 2012). ORIGINALITY – The study contributes to the ongoing discussions on how design can support entrepreneurship, with particular reference to the area of academic entrepreneurship. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS –The paper contends that design activities contribute in igniting and sustaining the ‘deploy or die’ approach and, consequently, could be adopted by research organizations to support operations in the area of academic entrepreneurship.
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