47,037 research outputs found
"Meaning" as a sociological concept: A review of the modeling, mapping, and simulation of the communication of knowledge and meaning
The development of discursive knowledge presumes the communication of meaning
as analytically different from the communication of information. Knowledge can
then be considered as a meaning which makes a difference. Whereas the
communication of information is studied in the information sciences and
scientometrics, the communication of meaning has been central to Luhmann's
attempts to make the theory of autopoiesis relevant for sociology. Analytical
techniques such as semantic maps and the simulation of anticipatory systems
enable us to operationalize the distinctions which Luhmann proposed as relevant
to the elaboration of Husserl's "horizons of meaning" in empirical research:
interactions among communications, the organization of meaning in
instantiations, and the self-organization of interhuman communication in terms
of symbolically generalized media such as truth, love, and power. Horizons of
meaning, however, remain uncertain orders of expectations, and one should
caution against reification from the meta-biological perspective of systems
theory
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e-Governance: Supporting pragmatic direct deliberative action through online communities of interest
Authors often report on the limited success of e-Government initiatives in developing nations. Top down, national strategies are developed to target improved government services, but maintain hierarchical, citizen-state conceptions of governance through representative democracy. An alternative conception, direct deliberative democracy, frames the potential role of the internet in governance differently. Web based platforms might support locally animated deliberations, which target pragmatic outcomes, while the resulting social networks afford collective learning through connections across traditional boundaries. This paper presents an investigation of direct deliberative governance as it occurs in online 'communities of interest', and is based on research with such a community in southern Africa. We investigate contributions to the online governance process and develop an action typology distinguishing between degrees of 'agency freedom'. Network analytic techniques are then used to understand how acts of varying degree are expressed in terms of the structure of a social network. The aim, more broadly, is to understand how the environment shapes acts of direct deliberative governance, and, in turn, how the acts shape the evolution and effectiveness of the community. The preliminary results suggest design considerations for online governance communities, and highlight their role to not only provide deliberative space, but to mediate social network connections
The role of high-performance people management practices in Industry 4.0: The case of medium-sized Spanish firms
Purpose: This paper wants to build the case for the key role of high-performance people management
practices in the development of I4.0 in SMEs. The research upon which this paper is based wants to
prove that the consolidation of those practices should be a priority for any company willing to embark
in this journey. The paper deals specifically with medium-sized Spanish firms which, on top, are already
having significant issues with digitization.
Design/methodology: The paper starts by digging into the literature to see how past technologies
have impacted productivity, followed by a review of the material available on digitization and Industry
4.0. It moves on to explore the relationship between people management practices, productivity and
innovation. Finally, the focus is placed on Spanish medium-sized companies, understanding their current
levels of consolidation of high-performance people management practices as well as digitization. With
all this information, several propositions are posited for validation using the Delphi methodology.
Findings: I4.0 is, at its core, about productivity improvements through business process and business
model innovation. People management practices are found to be strongly correlated with both
productivity and innovation. It has also been found that Spanish medium-sized firms already have a
significant initial gap compared to those of other OECD countries not only in productivity, but also
people management practices and digitization. The experts seem to agree on the key role of people
management practices and that they should be a high priority for any firm seriously thinking about
industry 4.0. This is not to say that strategy or leadership will not play a paramount role in any digital
transformation, but to emphasize the fact that the normally-forgotten people management practices will
be important enablers in this process.
Originality/value: It is believed that this is a topic that has been mostly neglected in the I4.0 literature.
In that sense, the findings of this paper could be relevant for small and medium-sized businesses
embarking on the industry 4.0 journey. This will entail a significant investment of time and money and,
if the key role of people management practices is not on the radar screen, it may have significant
implications for the success of those ventures.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Applying Bourdieu to socio-technical systems: The importance of affordances for social translucence in building 'capital' and status to eBay's success
This paper introduces the work of Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and his concepts of âthe fieldâ and âcapitalâ in relation to eBay. This paper considers eBay to be a socio-technical system with its own set of social norms, rules and competition over âcapitalâ. eBay is used as a case study of the importance of using a Bourdieuean approach to create successful socio-technical systems.Using a two-year qualitative study of eBay users as empirical illustration, this paper argues that a large part of eBayâs success is in the social and cultural affordances for social translucence and navigation of eBayâs website - in supporting the Bourdieuean competition over capital and status. This exploration has implications for wider socio-technical systems design which this paper will discuss - in particular, the importance of creating socially
translucent and navigable systems, informed by Bourdieuâs theoretical insights, which support competition for âcapitalâ and status
Sociological and Communication-Theoretical Perspectives on the Commercialization of the Sciences
Both self-organization and organization are important for the further
development of the sciences: the two dynamics condition and enable each other.
Commercial and public considerations can interact and "interpenetrate" in
historical organization; different codes of communication are then
"recombined." However, self-organization in the symbolically generalized codes
of communication can be expected to operate at the global level. The Triple
Helix model allows for both a neo-institutional appreciation in terms of
historical networks of university-industry-government relations and a
neo-evolutionary interpretation in terms of three functions: (i) novelty
production, (i) wealth generation, and (iii) political control. Using this
model, one can appreciate both subdynamics. The mutual information in three
dimensions enables us to measure the trade-off between organization and
self-organization as a possible synergy. The question of optimization between
commercial and public interests in the different sciences can thus be made
empirical.Comment: Science & Education (forthcoming
Agglomeration externalities, innovation and regional growth: Theoretical perspectives and meta-analysis
Technological change and innovation and are central to the quest for regional development. In the globally-connected knowledge-driven economy, the relevance of agglomeration forces that rely on proximity continues to increase, paradoxically despite declining real costs of information, communication and transportation. Globally, the proportion of the population living in cities continues to grow and sprawling cities remain the engines of regional economic transformation. The growth of cities results from a complex chain that starts with scale, density and geography, which then combine with industrial structure characterised by its extent of specialisation, competition and diversity, to yield innovation and productivity growth that encourages employment expansion, and further urban growth through inward migration. This paper revisits the central part of this virtuous circle, namely the Marshall-Arrow-Romer externalities (specialisation), Jacobs externalities (diversity) and Porter externalities (competition) that have provided alternative explanations for innovation and urban growth. The paper evaluates the statistical robustness of evidence for such externalities presented in 31 scientific articles, all building on the seminal work of Glaeser et al. (1992). We aim to explain variation in estimation results using study characteristics by means of ordered probit analysis. Among the results, we find that the impact of diversity depends on how it is measured and that diversity is important for the high-tech sector. High population density increases the chance of finding positive effects of specialisation on growth. More recent data find more positive results for both specialization and diversity, suggesting that agglomeration externalities become more important over time. Finally, primary study results depend on whether or not the externalities are considered jointly and on other features of the regression model specification
Building a Socio-technical Perspective of Community Resilience with a Semiotic Approach
Situated in the diversity and adversity of real-life contexts facing crisis situations, this research aims at boosting the resilience process within communities supported by digital and social technology. In this paper, eight community leaders in different parts of the world are invited to express their issues and wishes regarding the support of technology to face social challenges. Methods and artefacts based on the Organisational Semiotics (OS) and the Socially-Aware computing have been applied to analyse and consolidate this data. By providing both a systemic view of the problem and also leading to the identification of requirements, the analysis evidences some benefits of the OS-based approach to consolidate perspectives from different real-life scenarios towards building a socio-technical solution
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