Digital transformation of industrial organisations : A sociotechnical study on the role of leadership, structure and culture in achieving performance outcomes

In order to leverage the transformational possibilities of digital technology, digital transformation (DT) has become a strategic priority for industrial organisations. DT uses a mix of modern digital technologies and organisational strategies to facilitate significant business improvements. Recent studies have mostly concentrated on the technical components of DT or literatures reviews, while few conceptual and empirical studies have examined how industrial organisations are digitally transformed. This dissertation builds on the sociotechnical system perspective to answer the following question: How do industrial organisations prepare for DT? To address this question, four empirical research articles have been formulated to advance the knowledge on DT. By adopting a qualitative multiple case study method, this dissertation identifies the most important enablers of DT that help to achieve the targeted performance outcomes of the case organisations. This dissertation attempts to advance both theoretical and managerial understandings of DT by adopting a sociotechnical perspective and exploring an integrative approach for the successful DT of industrial organisations. The results of the study indicate that the case organisations’ main focus is on leadership roles and related competencies, changing organisational structures and organisational culture, which are the main enablers of successful DT. Further, the results show that the identified enablers help the case organisations to achieve organisational agility, customer centricity and enhanced collaboration, which are the main targeted performance outcomes of DT. In addition, the results emphasise that industrial organisations must jointly optimise their social and technical systems for DT in order to achieve the best results. Overall, this research demonstrates that a successful DT depends on how well industrial organisations readjust and update their organisational structures and organisational cultures to match the DT requirements. The role of leaders is vital in this change, and they must lead by example by adjusting their traditional style of leadership to match the DT requirements.Digitaalisesta transformaatiosta (DT) on tullut teollisten organisaatioiden strateginen prioriteetti, jotta ne voisivat hyötyä digitaalisen teknologian tarjoamista muutosmahdollisuuksista. DT yhdistää modernia digitaalista teknologiaa ja organisationaalista strategiaa merkittävien liiketoimintahyötyjen saavuttamiseksi. Viimeaikaiset tutkimukset ovat pääasiassa keskittyneet DT:n teknisiin osa-alueisiin tai ovat olleet kirjallisuuskatsauksia. On tehty vain muutamia käsiteellisiä ja empiirisiä tutkimuksia siitä, kuinka teolliset organisaatiot ovat digitaalisesti muuttuneet. Tämä väitöskirja vastaa sosioteknisen järjestelmän näkökulmasta seuraaviin kysymyksiin: Kuinka teolliset organisaatiot valmistautuvat DT:oon? Tähän kysymykseen vastauksena tehtiin neljä empiiristä tutkimusartikkelia edistämään ymmärrystä DT:sta. Käyttämällä kvalitatiivista monitapaustutkimusta, tämä väitöskirja tunnistaa tärkeimmät DT:n mahdollistajat, jotka auttavat tapausorganisaatioita saavuttamaan tavoitellut suoritustavoitteet. Tämä väitöskirja pyrkii edistämään ymmärrystä DT:sta sekä teorian että johtamisen kannalta, ottaen huomioon sosioteknisen näkökulman ja tutkimalla integroivaa lähestymistapaa menestyvään digitaaliseen transformaatioon teollisissa organisaatioissa. Tutkimuksen tulokset viittaavat siihen, että tapaustutkittujen organisaatioiden pääfokus on johtamisen rooleissa ja kompetensseissa, muuttuvissa organisaatiorakenteissa ja -kulttuureissa, jotka ovat pääasialliset menestyksekkään DT:n mahdollistajat. Lisäksi tulokset osoittavat, että tunnistetut muutoksen mahdollistajat auttavat tapaustutkimuksen organisaatioita saavuttamaan ketteryyttä, asiakaskeskeisyyttä ja tehostunutta yhteistyötä, jotka ovat DT:n tärkeimmät suoritustavoitteet. Lisäksi tulokset korostavat, että teollisten organisaatioiden on optimoitava oma sosiaalinen ja tekninen järjestelmänsä DT:ta varten saavuttaakseen parhaat tulokset. Tämä tutkimus osoittaa, että menestyksekäs DT on riippuvainen siitä, kuinka hyvin teolliset organisaatiot mukautuvat ja päivittävät organisaatiorakennettaan ja -kulttuuriaan ottamaan huomioon DT:n vaatimukset. Johdon rooli tässä muutoksessa on elintärkeä. Johtajien on johdettava esimerkin avulla muuttamalla perinteistä johtamistaan DT:n vaatimuksiin sopivaksi.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Evaluation Criteria for Sociotechnical Systems for the Digitally Disadvantaged

This paper addresses the challenge of finding criteria to evaluate social inclusiveness of sociotechnical systems (STS). While IT offers opportunities to reduce inequalities, the digital divide is a growing challenge. This divide between individuals with access and sufficient digital literacy, has economic and social consequences. Although several factors have been identified as barriers to the use of IT or design principles for socially inclusive research, there is a gap in the literature in assessing the final STS in their social inclusivity. This paper aims to identify criteria for evaluating STS in terms of social inclusion of the digitally disadvantaged. Based on the STS perspective, design requirements and principles are derived to help design a checklist of whether needs of digitally disadvantaged have been met. The paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by adding the STS design evaluation step to the current literature

How Sociotechnical Realignment and Sentiments Concerning Remote Work are Related – Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic forced sociotechnical systems (STS) to highly integrate remote work. Large-scale analyses show that the positivity of tweets about work from home decreased until COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the WHO and re-increased in the weeks that followed. Nevertheless, it is unclear if this reaction is due to personal and organizational developments or if it mirrors the realignment of entire STS. The present study uses Q methodology to identify differences in how STS realign to the externally enforced integration of remote work. Only STS that reach a state of high alignment to remote work conditions by successfully shifting communication and procedures to digital spheres can be considered resilient. The results show that employees describe their personal experiences with remote work as more positive the higher their level of sociotechnical realignment. Furthermore, personal digital resilience is correlated to successful STS realignment as well. The results confirm the importance of realigning not only the technical and social components of STS but above all their sociotechnical interaction. Negative sentiments relate in particular to the low realization of humanistic objectives in STS

A journey towards Industry 4.0 : the supporting role of socio-technical systems

Companies seek to improve their competitiveness and productivity through innovation in processes, products, and equipment. This innovation can be achieved via technologies that bring greater quality, flexibility, efficiency, control, and monitoring to their production. In this sense, the concept of a more intelligent, automated, and digital industry gained interest and culminated in Industry 4.0. Many companies view this industry evolution as capable of delivering immediate improvements and lowering production costs. However, only crediting the technology with gains in productivity, quality, and flexibility has brought frustrations, complexity, and reduced production in company processes. This is due to, among other things, the way Industry 4.0 technologies are understood, implemented, communicated, and used. Literature and empirical studies have shown that companies still lack the technological, cultural, and process maturity necessaries to obtain substantial gains with Industry 4.0, especially small and medium-sized companies. Focusing on this technology implementation process, this thesis aims to investigate how the socio-technical theory can bring improvements and gains in relation to the environment in which technologies such as IoT, big data, analytics, collaborative robots, and 3D printing are implemented. For that, this thesis aims to identify how the socio-technical aspects impact the implementation of Industry 4.0 and its contribution to improving the results with its implementation. The results demonstrate that socio-technical aspects are associated with higher levels of Industry 4.0 implementation as they serve as the basis for technologies to operate in a more organized environment, with workers trained and engaged in their use and with a clear and delimited strategy. Strategic aspects are the most impacting aspects of Industry 4.0 implementation and should be considered fundamental for companies adopting its technologies. The qualitative results highlight such importance and demonstrate how companies have made such a transition both through Industry 4.0 ecosystems, as well as seeking capabilities and knowledge through suppliers, consultancies, associations, and startups. Still, the results showed the importance of collecting, storing, and having the ability to use data for continuous improvement. Well-established lean maturity and the definition of a strategic and technological roadmap that guides the technology implementation process were also essential for the company to focus on a broader context of technologies to the detriment of ad-hoc implementations. Finally, the results also showed that although aspects of strategic definition bring important gains for implementing Industry 4.0, improvements related to workers, such as engagement, qualification, and training, can also bring productivity improvements. In this way, this thesis brings theoretical and empirical gains to a field of growing interest for the industry that demands high investments, impacting not only workers but various organizational, social, and technical aspects of the company. The results discussed here provide empirical evidence of the importance of a socio-technical vision based on more organized processes, a well-defined strategy, and trained, engaged, and participative workers in the transition to Industry 4.0, in contrast to the technocentric vision generally adopted by companies.Empresas buscam melhorar sua competitividade e produtividade através de inovações em processos, produtos e equipamentos. Tais inovações podem ser feitas através de tecnologias que tragam maior qualidade, flexibilidade, eficiência, controle e monitoramento a sua produção. Nesse sentido, o conceito de uma indústria mais inteligente, automatizada e digital ganhou força e culminou no que se denomina de Indústria 4.0. Muitas empresas visualizam essa evolução da indústria como capaz de entregar melhorias imediatas e diminuir custos de produção. No entanto, creditar somente à tecnologia ganhos de produtividade, qualidade e flexibilidade tem trazido frustrações, diminuição na produção e complexidade aos processos das empresas. Isso se deve, entre outras coisas, à forma como as tecnologias da Indústria 4.0 são entendidas, implementadas, comunicadas e usadas. Estudos empíricos têm demonstrado que as empresas ainda não possuem maturidade tecnológica, cultural e de processos para obter ganhos substanciais com a Indústria 4.0. Com foco nesse processo de implementação de tecnologia, esta tese visa estudar como a abordagem sistêmica e holística proposta pela teoria socio-técnica pode trazer melhorias e ganhos em relação ao ambiente em que as tecnologias como IoT, big data, analytics, robôs colaborativos e impressão 3D são implementadas. Para isso, essa tese tem como objetivo geral identificar como os aspectos socio-técnicos impactam a implementação da Indústria 4.0 e sua contribuição para melhorar os resultados com a sua implementação. Os resultados demonstram que os aspectos socio-técnicos estão associados a níveis mais altos de Indústria 4.0 uma vez que servem de base para que as tecnologias possam operar em um ambiente preparado, com trabalhadores treinados e engajados em seu uso e com uma estratégia clara e delimitada. Os aspectos estratégicos são os que mais impactam no nível de adoção de Indústria 4.0 e são fundamentais para a adoção das tecnologias. Os resultados qualitativos ressaltam tal necessidade e demonstram como as empresas têm feito tal transição tanto através de treinamentos, parcerias com startups e organizações governamentais, assim como buscando capabilidades e conhecimento através de fornecedores, universidades e consultorias. Ainda, os resultados evidenciaram a importância de coletar, armazenaram e possuir capacidade de utilizar dados para melhorias contínuas. Maturidade lean bem estabelecida e a definição de um roadmap estratégico e tecnológico que guie o processo de implementação das tecnologias também foi demonstrado como essencial para que a empresa foque num contexto mais amplo de tecnologias em detrimento de implementações pontuais e usos ad hoc. Finalmente, os resultados também demonstraram que apesar de aspectos de definição estratégica trazerem ganhos importantes para a implementação de Indústria 4.0, melhorias relacionadas a trabalhadores, como engajamento, qualificação e treinamento também são capazes de trazer melhorias na produtividade. Dessa forma, essa tese traz ganhos teóricos para um campo crescente e de interesse da indústria e que demandam investimentos altos, impactando não somente os trabalhadores, mas diversos aspectos organizacionais, sociais e técnicos da empresa. Os resultados discutidos aqui trazem evidências empíricas da importância de uma visão socio-técnica pautada em processos mais organizados, estratégia bem definida e trabalhadores treinados, engajados e participativos na transição para a Indústria 4.0 em contraste a visão tecnocentrista geralmente adotada pelas empresas

Adoption of Videoconferencing for Social Connectedness among Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Videoconferencing has been increasingly used for social connectedness in residential aged care (RAC). In sensitive settings such as RAC, it is important that technologies are introduced with careful consideration of people’s needs and experiences with the technology, to ensure that the desired benefits are realised. This paper reviews research evidence about older adults using videoconferencing for social connectedness and issues raised by that use in order to identify strategies RAC providers can adopt to achieve a greater likelihood of sustainability. Fourteen articles were included for in-depth review. Devices featuring videoconferencing in the studies reviewed ranged from tablets to telepresence robots. Most study participants perceived videoconferencing as beneficial for social connectedness. The implementation of videoconferencing in RAC is impacted by differences in sociotechnical systems. This paper contributes key considerations for the future design and implementation of videoconferencing for social connectedness in RAC and opportunities for future work in this area

Managing sociotechnical risks in infrastructure projects : Sociotechnical Systems (STS) perspectives on systems

As systems become larger, more complex and integrated, the cost of failure increases rapidly, leading to a need for effective risk management tools. However, conventional risk management tools such as the ones based on hazard analysis or accident causation analysis have a narrow focus on either human or technical actors and on single causal chains at one organisational level. This led researchers to introduce the concept of Sociotechnical Systems (STS), involving the interaction of human and non-human technical components. The present study was conducted with the aim of developing ways of applying STS principles and STS-based methods to improve the risk management in large infrastructure projects. Initially, the sets of STS principles for the system design, which had been developed so far, were identified and then integrated and synthesised to produce a list of 20 core STS principles for applying them further in the current study. A comprehensive literature review of the work done in this field since its inception in the 1950s was then conducted, producing a unified list of 103 STS-based methods. These methods were then evaluated for their validity and visibility (occurrence). To identify and analyse major risks in complex infrastructure projects from an STS perspective, an observational case study of a large-scale collaborative design project at Heriot-Watt University was conducted, including running the surveys and interviews with the project participants. The aim was to find out if the presence or absence of the 20 STS principles and 18 associated risk factors affected the performance of the teams. It was found that the team performance was strongly related to the presence or absence of STS principles that was supported by statistically meaningful results of a quantitative analysis. The same STS principles were then applied retrospectively to a second case study, which was the construction of the Edinburgh Tram Network, based on documentary sources and employing the AcciMap and Abstraction Hierarchy (AH) methods. It was concluded that failure to apply these principles and the resulting risks could play a major role in the failure to deliver the project on time and within budget. Finally, a five-phase framework was constructed for STS-based risk management framework of infrastructure projects, with the guideline principles aligning the existing risk management framework with STS theory

The role of war in deep transitions: exploring mechanisms, imprints and rules in sociotechnical systems

This paper explores in what ways the two world wars influenced the development of sociotechnical systems underpinning the culmination of the first deep transition. The role of war is an underexplored aspect in both the Techno-Economic Paradigms (TEP) approach and the Multi-level perspective (MLP) which form the two key conceptual building blocks of the Deep Transitions (DT) framework. Thus, we develop a conceptual approach tailored to this particular topic which integrates accounts of total war and mechanisms of war from historical studies and imprinting from organisational studies with the DT framework’s attention towards rules and meta-rules. We explore in what ways the three sociotechnical systems of energy, food, and transport were affected by the emergence of new demand pressures and logistical challenges during conditions of total war; how war impacted the directionality of sociotechnical systems; the extent to which new national and international policy capacities emerged during wartime in the energy, food, and transport systems; and the extent to which these systems were influenced by cooperation and shared sacrifice under wartime conditions. We then explore what lasting changes were influenced by the two wars in the energy, food, and transport systems across the transatlantic zone. This paper seeks to open up a hitherto neglected area in analysis on sociotechnical transitions and we discuss the importance of further research that is attentive towards entanglements of warfare and the military particularly in the field of sustainability transitions

CLAIM THE NAME: NAMES OF IT SOLUTIONS AND THE INFLUENCE ON OLDER ADULTS

The number of older adults as Information Technology (IT) users is increasing. While attention is already being paid to the design of IT solutions for older adults, the names of IT solutions have received little attention. It is important that the name does not convey negative attributes. In the case of older adults, stereotypes pose a challenge since they can lead to rejection of potentially helpful IT solutions. In this paper, we therefore propose a model for a stereotype-free naming process in the conceptual background of sociotechnical systems. The model will be developed and tested according to a design science research approach. The final model will be adaptable for further target groups to name IT solutions free from stereotypes