Network Strategy for Entrepreneurs

Networks are an emerging area within the literature related to how entrepreneurs transfer knowledge, seek partnerships, and ultimately interact with others. Some terms with which this area has been defined are Business Networks, Knowledge Networks & Collaboration Networks. It is a cross-cutting phenomenon in various areas of knowledge, such as open innovation and entrepreneurship. However, the relevance of the use of networks for entrepreneurs and the development of global start-ups leads us to the need to propose a conceptual framework for the planning and administration of these business networks. It is an analytical investigation with a case study methodology. They are cases of the cities of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Santiago (Chile) mainly of consulting and software services. From the models usually used in entrepreneurship, those with integrated tools and methodologies for the development of business networks by founders or administrators of start-ups

Making Memory in State Government: Fighting the Effects of High Administrative Turnover with Participatory Evaluation Approaches

University of Minnesota M.A. thesis.February 2016. Major: Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. Advisor: Stuart Yeh. 1 computer file (PDF); ii, 32 pages.State government agencies face a unique challenge: frequent, regular turnover of top administration, in concurrence with the election cycle. However, there is little current research on the effects of administrative turnover in state government specifically. Several trends can be observed in the public sector that may be exacerbated by high administrative turnover: weak organizational learning, low levels of organizational memory, lack of encouragement of capacity building from management, and negative behavior of disempowered government workers. There is also a gap in the literature regarding the influence of evaluation on state government work, and whether it can help with the observed organizational trends. This paper examines whether participatory evaluation approaches can combat loss of organizational memory and learning in the turbulent environment of state government agencies

Organisational design elements and competencies for optimising the expertise of knowledge workers in a shared services centre

ORIENTATION: Organisations are still structured according to the Industrial Age control model that restricts optimising the expertise of knowledge workers. RESEARCH PURPOSE: The general aim of the research was to explore the organisation design elements and competencies that contribute to optimising the expertise of knowledge workers in a shared services centre. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: Current organisational design methodologies do not emphasise optimising the expertise of knowledge workers. This research addresses the challenge of how an organisation design can improve the creation and availability of the expertise of knowledge workers. RESEARCH DESIGN/APPROACH METHOD: The researcher followed a qualitative case study research design and collected data in six focus group sessions (N = 25). MAIN FINDINGS: The findings showed that the shared services centre (SSC) is not designed to enable its structure, culture and codifying system to optimise the expertise of knowledge workers. In addition, the SSC does not share the knowledge generated with other knowledge workers. Furthermore, it does not use the output of the knowledge workers to improve business processes. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: The expertise of knowledge workers is the basis of competitive advantage. Therefore, managers should create an organisational design that is conducive to optimising knowledge work expertise. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE ADD: This research highlights the important organisational design elements and supportive organisational structures for optimising the expertise of knowledge workers. The research also proposes a framework for optimising the expertise of knowledge workers and helping an organisation to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.http://www.sajhrm.co.z

Using autopoiesis theory to give knowledge management a theoretical foundation

The purpose of this research was to give knowledge management a sound conceptual foundation; this was done in three stages. First, the current domain of autopoiesis and knowledge management was explored with a particular focus on reasons for the research and the different approaches used. There was general agreement that knowledge management does need a theoretical foundation and that, currently, knowledge management uses only certain aspects of autopoiesis along with very little empirical work. The second phase of this research was to take an existing model, a model of organisational learning, from the literature and apply to it the principles from autopoiesis. This was done using a matching methodology: a two step process used to align the theories from two or more domains with the aim of creating a new lexis. The resulting autopoietic model of organisational learning was tested in two organisations: Prosidion and the Conservation Services Group. The third phase of this research was to create a model of knowledge that was true to an autopoietic epistemology for evaluation by a range of knowledge management experts from both academia and industry. The main finding from this research was that autopoiesis has the potential to become the theoretical foundation for knowledge management, but further research is required to enhance the usability of the foundation. Principles from autopoiesis can be applied to existing models, with some measurable benefit, but that the true contribution from autopoiesis will be the development of the autopoietic model of knowledge into a tangible, more useable product. This research makes several unique contributions to the field of knowledge management and autopoiesis. First, the creation of the autopoietic models of organisational learning and knowledge, and second, the development of test/evaluation instruments. Finally, the actual results and their analysis provide a new insight into the challenges of giving knowledge management a theoretical foundation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

El mejoramiento del proceso de software como un habilitador de la de auto-producción organizacional

Las compañías de software son un tema actual en la economía mundial. Dichas compañías están encargadas de la mayoría de los desarrollos en tecnologías de la información y para tener un desempeño adecuado deben mejorar su propia organización. El mejoramiento del proceso de software (SPI por sus siglas en inglés) es un factor clave que permite a las compañías de software crecer y mejorar. Este proceso ha sido analizado principalmente como un proceso técnico, dejando de lado el factor humano y organizacional. Además en la literatura se ha encontrado una carencia en la reflexión teórica sobre cómo puede ser analizado este proceso. Trabajos recientes indican que el SPI puede ser analizado como un cambio organizacional. Las organizaciones pueden ser vistas como organismos vivos que crecen y evolucionan basados en la teoría de la autopoiesis o los sistemas auto-productivos. Si una compañía de software es entendida como un sistema autopoiético, el SPI puede ser visto como un proceso que habilita la auto-producción organizacional. El objetivo de este trabajo es proveer una primera aproximación al entendimiento del SPI como un habilitador del proceso auto-productivo organizacional, es decir, describir este proceso a la luz de una nueva teoría con el fin de crear una base para entender el desarrollo de este y proveer de nuevas perspectivas a futuros trabajos en el área.Abstract. Software companies are a growing trend in world economy. They are in charge of most IT related developments and in order to deliver a proper product to their costumers they have to improve their own organization. Software Process Improvement (SPI) is a key factor that allows software companies to grow and improve their organization. This process has been mainly treated as a technical process, leaving aside the human factor. Although, in the literature it has been found a lack of a theoretical reflection about how could be analyzed this process. Recent works indicate that SPI could be analyzed as an organizational change. Also organizations can be seen as living organisms that grow and evolve based on the idea of autopoiesis or self-producing systems. If a software company is understood as a self-producing system, the SPI can be seen as a self-producing process. The goal of this work is to provide a first approach in the understanding of SPI as enabler of the organization self-production process, that is to say, describe this process in the light of a new theory in order to create a basis for understanding its development and provide new perspectives for future research in this area.Maestrí

Forgetting to remember : organisational memory

Organisations need to learn from their current and past experiences to optimise their activities, decisions and future strategies. Non-governmental organisations are similar to public or governmental departments in that learning is crucial for their existence. One of the key factors influencing learning is the development and maintenance of a functional organisational memory. The organisational memory is a dynamic entity encompassing more than the storage facilities provided by an information technology system. It also resides in human form, acting as reservoirs and interpretation centres and feeding the organisational memory as a whole. Previous research in organisational memory focussed mostly on describing the structure of the storage systems, with the current focus on developing management information systems to enhance organisational memory storage and retrieval. Some work has been undertaken to describe the processes involved, which include accessing, storing and retrieving the memory. Other functions that need special attention are the development of data to information, and especially creating and using knowledge. The studies mostly involved existing organisational memory as it was represented at a specific time of the organisations’ development. This study looks at all the different developmental phases of a regional NGO, which include start-up, expansion in target territory, expansion in activities, consolidation and close-out. To investigate the temporal changes of organisational memory in a regional intermediary NGO, a retrospective case study methodology was used. The NGO was closing down, providing an opportunity to investigate all the stages of development. The data collection, analysis and interpretation involved various in-depth interviews with current and past staff members and other key stakeholders, such as beneficiary organisations and consultants. In addition, a complex set of documents were studied, including proposals, strategic documents, minutes of meetings, and audiovisual material. The main themes and factors, such as individuals, leadership, electronic and other management of the organisational memory, culture, including the importance of a vision and theory of change, policies and global developments are discussed using a temporal ecological framework. The key findings of this study illustrate the importance of directories as part of the metamemory in accessing seemingly dormant organisational memories. The conclusion is that organisational memory survives after the demise of the organisation and that it is accessible through directories.PsychologyPh. D. (Consulting Psychology

Teknologiavälitteisyys kyläläisten arjessa : tutkimus ikääntyvien sivukylien teknologiavälitteisyydestä ja sen rajapinnoista maaseutusosiaalityöhön

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan teknologiavälitteisyyden merkityksellisyyttä ikääntyvien sivukylien arjessa. Tutkimus rakentaa kuvaa kyläläisten teknologian käytöstä, teknologiavälitteisyyden paikoista ja tiloista arjessa sekä teknologiavälitteisen tiedon rakentamisesta ja käyttämisestä sivukylissä. Tutkimusta ohjaa hermeneuttis-fenomenologinen tiedonintressi, jolloin aineistoista syntyvä tulkittu tieto on kiinteästi sidoksissa tilanteeseen, aikaan ja paikkaan. Tutkimustehtävät ovat 1) millaisia tiloja sivukylien asukkaat rakentavat teknologiavälitteisyydelle arjessaan ja 2) millaisia mahdollisuuksia teknologiavälitteisyys tarjoaa maaseutusosiaalityölle ikääntyvien sivukylien arjen tukemisessa. Tutkimus koostuu yhteenveto-osiosta ja neljästä aiemmin julkaistusta osatutkimuksesta. Empiirisenä aineistona ovat sivukylissä toteutetut 18 yksilöhaastattelua, 2 lomakekyselyä ja 2 fokusryhmähaastattelua. Aineistojen monipuolisuus ja vaiheittaisesti edennyt aineistokeruu mahdollistivat erilaiset tutkimukselliset lähestymistavat. Yksilöhaastattelut teemoitettiin ja luentametodina käytettiin muun muassa odotusperspektiiviluentaa, kun taas fokusryhmähaastattelut analysoitiin teorialähtöisellä sisällönanalyysillä. Lomakekyselyn tuloksia tarkasteltiin käyttäen muun muassa suoria jakaumia, ristiintaulukointia ja faktorianalyysia pääkomponenttianalyysin osana. Osatutkimuksissa tarkastellaan tutkittavaa ilmiötä eri näkökulmista. Ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa luodaan yleiskuva sivukylien asukkaiden informaatioteknologian käytöstä, toisessa syvennytään teknologiavälitteisyyden merkityksiin sivukylien arjessa. Kolmannessa osatutkimuksessa analysoidaan teknologiavälitteisen tiedon prosessuaalista rakentumista tutkimusmetodisena ilmiönä. Neljännessä, teoreettisen viitekehyksen tuottavassa osatutkimuksessa keskitytään Niklas Luhmannin ekologiseen kommunikaatioteoriaan, jota hyödynnetään valikoivasti tarkasteltaessa teknologiavälitteisyyden mahdollisuuksia maaseutusosiaalityössä. Yhteenveto-osion tehtävänä on punoa osatutkimusten tulokset yhteen ja luoda yleinen, abstrahoitu kuva tutkittavasta kokonaisuudesta kahden tutkimustehtävän avulla. Pyrkimyksenä on ollut ymmärtää ja tulkita kyläläisten omia tulkintoja arjestaan. Ensimmäiseksi tarkastellaan sivukylien asukkaiden rakentamia tiloja teknologiavälitteisyydelle arjessaan. Toisessa vaiheessa sovelletaan saatuja tuloksia maaseutusosiaalityöhön ekologisesta kommunikaatioteoriasta valitsemieni käsitteiden avulla. Tutkimuksen tuottama tieto kuvaa, mitä teknologiavälitteisyys on koettuna toiminnallisuutena ikääntyvien sivukylien arjessa. Teknologian käyttö paikantuu toiminnallisiin arjen tiloihin, jotka kytkeytyvät sekä vapaa-aikaan että ammatilliseen toimintaan. Kyläläiset käyttävät teknologiaa perinteisesti tiedon hakuun ja asioiden hoitoon; erityisesti pankkiasioissa hyödynnetään teknologiavälitteisyyttä samoin kuin lehtien lukemisessa. Teknologian käyttö on verrannollinen ikään: mitä iäkkäämpi käyttäjä, sitä harkitumpaa informaatioteknologian hyödyntäminen oli. Tulokset osoittavat, että erityisesti hyvinvointipalveluihin kytkeytyessään informaatioteknologia näyttäytyy sivukylissä näkyvinä ja näkymättöminä, arkeen sulautuneina toimintoina. Teknologiavälitteisyyden merkityksellisyys kiinnittyy aineistossa yhteisöllisyyteen, palveluihin ja tietoon. Se paikantuu yhtäältä lineaarisiin, tarkasti kohdennettuihin ja yksisuuntaisiin teknologian käyttötapoihin erityisesti tiedon vastaanottamisessa, mutta myös tiedon jakamisessa. Toisaalta merkityksellisyys todentuu dynaamisissa, vastavuoroisissa ja monimuotoisissa teknologiavälitteisyyden käyttötavoissa rakentamassa ja ylläpitämässä yhteisöllisyyttä ja osallisuutta luoden sosiaalisia toimintatiloja. Vastavuoroisesti rakentuva tieto ankkuroituu dynaamiseen teknologiavälitteisyyden hyödyntämiseen. Vuorovaikutteinen, jaettu ja yhteistyössä rakennettu tieto tuottaa yhteisöllistä ymmärrystä ja toimintaa. Se onkin yksi sivukylien asukkaiden osallisuuden edellytys postmodernissa, kompleksisessa yhteiskunnassa. Osatutkimusten tuloksia sovelletaan maaseutusosiaalityöhön Niklas Luhmannin (2004) ekologisen kommunikaatioteorian tarjoamin käsittein, joita ovat kommunikaatio, resonanssi ja havainnointi. Eklektisesti valittujen käsitteiden avulla jäsennetään teknologiavälitteisyyden avaamia maaseutusosiaalityön mahdollisuuksia sivukylien arjen tukijana eri funktiojärjestelmissä. Tulokset osoittavat, että kompleksisessa yhteiskunnassa maaseutusosiaalityöllä on paikka havainnoida ja tukea arjen sujuvuutta harvaan asutuilla alueilla ja siellä sijaitsevissa sivukylissä. Toimiessaan eri funktiojärjestelmissä maaseutusosiaalityö voi teknologiavälitteisyyttä hyödyntäen välittää informaatiota, rakentaa ja tukea ymmärrystä. Samalla se vaikuttaa järjestelmien sisäiseen ja ulkopuoliseen informaatioon ja sen käyttämiseen edistäen näin kyläläisten arjen sujuvuutta. Maaseutusosiaalityön yhtenä tehtävänä on vahvistaa kyläläisten osallisuutta ympäröivään yhteiskuntaan. Se saa lisätyökalun käyttöönsä, kun se hyödyntää teknologiavälitteisyyttä suunnitelmallisesti ja systemaattisesti, ei teknologian sanelemana, ikääntyviin sivukyliin ulkoapäin tulevana pakkona. Yksilöllistyvässä yhteiskunnassa teknologiavälitteisyys näyttäytyy tässä tutkimuksessa toistaiseksi ohuesti käytössä olevana, mutta tulossa olevana välineenä luoda ja ylläpitää sekä tukea arjen sujuvuutta ikääntyvissä sivukylissä. Teknologiavälitteisyys konkretisoituu ikääntyvissä sivukylissä toiminnallisissa ja sosiaalisissa tiloissa, joita rakennetaan eletyn elämän kokemuksellisuuden perustalle. Teknologiavälitteisyyden merkityksellisyys todentuu arjen sujuvuuden lisäksi yhteiskunnallisissa arvovalinnoissa: valinnoissa siitä, nähdäänkö sivukylät kaupungistuvan yhteiskunnan taakkana vai sen merkityksellisenä osana ja aktiivisena toimijana.This study examined the utilization of technology and technology-mediated knowledge in the everyday lives of people in remote villages in Lapland. An interest in hermeneutic-phenomenological knowledge provides the background for this study. This means that knowledge produced in this study is closely linked to the situation, time and place. The research questions addressed are: 1) What kind of spaces do villagers build for technology-mediatedness in their everyday lives? 2) What kind of possibilities does technology-mediatedness provide to rural social work for enhancing the everyday life of remote villages? The results of the study are summarized in four previously published independent research articles and in a summary article. The data were 18 individual interviews with villagers, two questionnaires (255 completed) and two focus group interviews (7+ 6 participants). The variety of data and iterative data collection enabled diverse research approaches. Individual interviews were analyzed by thematising and one reading method was the perspective of expectancy. Focus group interviews were analyzed by using theory-based content analysis. The results of the survey were examined with frequency distributions, cross tabulations and principal component analysis. The first of the previously published articles provides a general view of how villagers in remote areas use information technology. The second article focuses on the meanings of technology-mediatedness in villagers’ everyday lives. The third article analyzes processual building of technology-mediated knowledge as a research methodology phenomenon. The fourth article focuses on Niklas Luhmann’s ecological communication theory, which forms the theoretical framework for this study. The purpose of the summary article is to entwine the results to create a general picture of the phenomenon. The first section of the summary article focuses on what kind of spaces villagers build for technology-mediatedness in their everyday lives. The second section examines the results in light of the theoretical framework of ecological communication theory. The latter section is an attempt to apply theory into the practice and it provides an eclectic investigation into the possibilities of utilizing technology-mediated solutions for rural social work. The knowledge produced by this study describes how villagers experience technology-mediatedness in everyday life. The use of information technology occurs during both leisure and work activities. Villagers most often use technology for retrieving information and managing affairs, especially reading newspapers and banking. The use of information technology correlates with age, with older villagers being more deliberate in their utilization of information technology. In the area of welfare services, information technology was both visible and invisible, blended into the actions of everyday life. The importance of technology-mediatedness is apparent in the areas of community, welfare services and knowledge. Technology is most commonly used to search for information, but technology also provides the possibility of sharing information. Technology-mediatedness further allows villagers to reciprocally produce and maintain community participation, creating social spaces for actions. The reciprocally produced knowledge is anchored to the dynamic technology-mediatedness. The interactive, shared and co-built knowledge generates communal understanding and action and is a prerequisite for villagers’ inclusion in the postmodern, complex society. The results of individual studies are applied in rural social work by using the concepts of ecological communication theory. By using concept communication, observation and resonance, the possibilities of rural social work can be structured to enhance the everyday life of hamlets. Based on this, it seems that rural social work has its place and space to observe and support the ease of everyday life in villages. By acting in different function systems, rural social work can 1) mediate information, 2) support understanding and 3) influence inside and outside information and its use in enhancing everyday life. One task for rural social work is to reinforce the inclusion of villages in the greater complex society. The systematic use of technology-mediatedness is an extra tool for rural social work to foster this inclusion. However, this inclusion should be built with the participation of the ageing villages, not imposed from the outside. Technology-mediatedness is currently little used as a solution to maintain and enhance life in remote villages within a larger individualizing society. Technology-mediatedness exists in ageing villages in functional and social spaces that are built on lived experiences. It exists in societal values, too, especially in the value society places on its remote areas. Are they a burden to get rid of, or are they a meaningful part of society

Gestión de conocimiento y comunicación estratégica: su imbricación en el sistema científico tecnológico agropecuario argentino. Un modelo a partir de la deconstrucción/ construcción en una Estación Experimental Agropecuaria del INTA

Tesis para obtener el grado de Doctora en Comunicación Social presentado en la Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Relaciones Internacional, en 2010El knowledge management (KM) es un espacio disciplinar consolidado en los últimos 20 años, que se ocupa de la gestión del conocimiento en las organizaciones. Su ascendencia se rastrea en las ciencias de la administración y la traducción de su denominación es gestión del conocimiento. Mientras el KM sostiene una visión restringida de la comunicación (lineal y segmentada), la metaperspectiva conceptual de la comunicación estratégica (Massoni, 2005a, 2007a, 2009) propone el abordaje complejo y fluido de este fenómeno, en tanto espacio relacionante de la diversidad sociocultural. Esta tesis plantea un análisis comparativo entre ambos, donde la comunicación estratégica aporta un enfoque multidimensional y situacional, tomando como caso de análisis la interacción en una Estación Experimental del Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), organización del estado argentino con base tecnológica. Esta investigación combina la revisión bibliográfica, el análisis documental, herramientas etnográficas, y el análisis comunicacional para acercarse al fenómeno. Utiliza el modelo de las cuatro dimensiones de la comunicación, el análisis de marcas de racionalidad comunicacional y la genealogía de una organización. El resultado es un nuevo modelo, que reconoce la preocupación inicial de las ciencias de la administración, pero la resitua en un mundo complejo y fluido, con un aporte específico de la comunicación estratégica. El modelo es una metáfora del universo y se estructura en una serie de analogías que aportan categorías desde las cuáles operar que permitan acercarse al fenómeno que ocupa al KM, desde una perspectiva comunicacional.Knowledge management (KM) is a disciplinary space within organizations that has been established over the past 20 years. This discipline has its roots in the field of Management Sciences. While KM holds a limited view of communication (linear and segmented), the meta-perspective of Strategic Communications (Massoni, 2005a, 2007a, 2009) proposes a complex and fluid approach to communication as a relational space within sociocultural diversity. In this thesis the term gestión del conocimiento—the Spanish translation of KM—will be used to refer to a Strategic Communications perspective. This thesis presents a comparative analysis of KM and Strategic Communications, in which the Strategic Communications perspective provides a multidimensional and situational approach. It focuses on a case study in an Experimental Station of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), an Argentine governmental organization. The research combines literature review, documentary analysis, ethnographic tools, and communication analysis. It utilizes the four dimensions model of communication, the analysis of communicative rationality, and the genealogy of an organization. The result is a new model which acknowledges the initial concerns of the Management Sciences, but resituates them within a complex and fluid new world, using the specific contribution of Strategic Communications. The model draws a metaphor between itself and the universe and structures itself through a series of analogies which contribute categories from which to approach the KM phenomenon from a communication perspective.EEA San PedroFil: Piola, Mariana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro; Argentin

Second-order learning in developmental evaluation for community-based sustainability

It is increasingly common for complex social, economic and environmental policy concerns to be delivered via funded community-based projects. A project’s contribution is typically monitored and evaluated relative to pre-defined outcomes, supported by a set of indicators. Available research suggests that when judged against such criteria, the performance of many funded international developmental and community-based sustainability (CBS) projects are variable, with evidence suggesting that changes elicited are negligible in duration, type, and scale. However, evaluating project performance relative to pre-defined outcomes may overlook the practical learning accumulated by actors in realising key objectives under conditions afforded by the operational context. To address this gap, developmental evaluation (DE) foregrounds and supports project practitioner learning and innovation under dynamic, complex, and uncertain operating conditions. Applying the DE focus on project actor learning and innovation, the present research thematically analyses how practitioners in a funded CBS case study project make sense of their practice. Despite its explicit focus on learning however, DE has not articulated a coherent cognitive paradigm, and a contribution of the present study is to equip DE with a conceptual architecture drawn from the enactive cognitive science paradigm, rooted in an explicit accounting of complexity. Using this base, a prototype DE framework was designed and provisionally field-tested in the form of a set of prompts to be used with CBS practitioners to augment traditional monitoring and evaluation activities. This framework is intended to support practitioners in surfacing and capturing second-order learning about their practices and to explore opportunities for innovative responses to dynamic complex operational conditions. Recommendations are offered for further research and how these findings might be incorporated into future CBS design and funding considerations.Scholarship and fees provided by the Sustainable Harborough Project, funded by the Communities Living Sustainably fund, from BIG Lotter