INVESTIGATING DIGITAL DIVIDE THROUGH VALUE CO-CREATION: EVIDENCE FROM AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN CHINA

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Making sense of employees' sensemaking : evidence from a multi-skilling project

This study aims to expand Weick and his colleagues' (2005) sensemaking framework by exploring prospection, work role identity, and emotion in the sensemaking process. It adopts a qualitative case study approach and examines the sensemaking of employees (both professional and non-professional) during a multi-skilling project. The study reveals three forms of sensemaking, namely 'wide sensemaking', 'narrow sensemaking' and 'ambivalent sensemaking', depending on the dynamics among prospection, work role identity, emotion in sensemaking. The study finds that people's sensemaking is affected by the disparity between the core attributes in their initial work role identity and those in the newly designed role of a multi-skilling project. Moreover, this study extends theories of prospection in sensemaking, arguing that people experiencing different disparity between their original work role identity and the work role identity associated with the Project display different patterns of prospective sensemaking. In addition, the thesis considers emotion in sensemaking, which was induced from the data. Emotions elicited in sensemaking affect the selection of anomalies as sensemaking cues, and indicate the need for identity work. Furthermore, in making sense of a multi-skilling project the valence and intensity of emotions elicited are determined by the level of difficulty to restore to one’s acceptable work role identity

Enhancing Safety: the Challenge of Foresight - ESReDA Project Group Foresight in Safety

This Deliverable is the result of a joint effort by experts, working in the fields of risks management, accident analysis, learning from experience and safety management. They come from 10 countries mainly from Europe and also from USA and Australia. Their expertise covers several industrial sectors. They attempted to provide useful information, both from a theoretical and a practical point of views, about "Foresight in Safety". Safety is still an ongoing issue for which a number of subjects remain under debate (e.g. is goal of safety to ensure that 'as few things as possible go wrong' or to ensure that ‘as many things as possible go right’?). Anyway, we can assume that safety is to act in a way for both the process continues to be run right and that errors and failures to not lead to a major accident. Even if "foresight in safety" is the implicit underlying goal of every practitioner in safety, the outlines of its domain remain blurred and the relevant topics associated with it have never been clearly defined. A humble ambition of this Deliverable is to display some aspects of "foresight in safety" according to the current state of practices and scientific knowledge.JRC.G.10-Knowledge for Nuclear Security and Safet

How to Exploit the Digitalization Potential of Business Processes

Process improvement is the most value-adding activity in the business process management (BPM) lifecycle. Despite mature knowledge, many approaches have been criticized to lack guidance on how to put process improvement into practice. Given the variety of emerging digital technologies, organizations not only face a process improvement black box, but also high uncertainty regarding digital technologies. This paper thus proposes a method that supports organizations in exploiting the digitalization potential of their business processes. To achieve this, action design research and situational method engineering were adopted. Two design cycles involving practitioners (i.e., managers and BPM experts) and end-users (i.e., process owners and participants) were conducted. In the first cycle, the method’s alpha version was evaluated by interviewing practitioners from five organizations. In the second cycle, the beta version was evaluated via real-world case studies. In this paper, detailed results of one case study, which was conducted at a semiconductor manufacturer, are included

Spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in dance performance

In this paper we present a study of spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in live dance performance. A multidisciplinary team comprising a choreographer, neuroscientists and qualitative researchers investigated the effects of different sound scores on dance spectators. What would be the impact of auditory stimulation on kinesthetic experience and/or aesthetic appreciation of the dance? What would be the effect of removing music altogether, so that spectators watched dance while hearing only the performers’ breathing and footfalls? We investigated audience experience through qualitative research, using post-performance focus groups, while a separately conducted functional brain imaging (fMRI) study measured the synchrony in brain activity across spectators when they watched dance with sound or breathing only. When audiences watched dance accompanied by music the fMRI data revealed evidence of greater intersubject synchronisation in a brain region consistent with complex auditory processing. The audience research found that some spectators derived pleasure from finding convergences between two complex stimuli (dance and music). The removal of music and the resulting audibility of the performers’ breathing had a significant impact on spectators’ aesthetic experience. The fMRI analysis showed increased synchronisation among observers, suggesting greater influence of the body when interpreting the dance stimuli. The audience research found evidence of similar corporeally focused experience. The paper discusses possible connections between the findings of our different approaches, and considers the implications of this study for interdisciplinary research collaborations between arts and sciences

The dynamics of sartup innovation in innovation ecosystems

Because of its complexity, innovation requires a multitude of resources that are hardly found within startups due to their being resource-constrained young ventures. To overcome such liabilities, startups rely on actors in the innovation ecosystem (IE) to benefit from their resources. IE refer to the business environment where actors under a multilayer social network interact to co-create value for the innovation of an actor or a population of actors. Therefore, startups create ties with IE actors such as universities, incubators, suppliers, among other actors to leverage their resources. Nonetheless, the underlying dynamics of resource sharing and how startups benefit from the IE remain unidentified. Grounded on that, this doctoral thesis aims to analyze the innovation management dynamics of startups in innovation ecosystems. To that end, this thesis addresses three main research objectives: (i) to describe how startups manage IE actors’ resources throughout their lifecycle phases; (ii) to analyze how the interplay between IE participation and market contingencies influence startups’ innovativeness; and finally (iii) to identify how the relationship between startups’ innovativeness is affected by their presence in an IE, resourcefulness and team qualification. For research objective (i), ten cases of startups and interview IE actors were studied. Findings show that during creation, interaction with nonmarket oriented actors is predominant and startups focus on bundling innovation and social resources. While in the development phase, interactions involve a balanced integration of market and non-market oriented actors, and startups focus on bundling innovation, social, and organizational resources. Finally, interactions with market-oriented actors are predominant in the market phase, and startups still bundle innovation and social resources. ased on the findings, we discuss how IE help startups develop an ambidextrous strategy of exploration and exploitation and which capabilities startups develop in each lifecycle phase. Next, for research objective (ii), a contingency perspective is adopted to analyze how the interplay between market factors and innovation ecosystem participation influences startups’ technological and business model innovativeness. We analyze data from a large-scale survey of German startups. We show that participating in an IE is especially beneficial when startups must cope with rapid-changing, less predictable, and low-profit markets. Whereas for business model innovativeness, the innovation ecosystem is most beneficial for startups that must cope with low-profit and more predictable markets. Finally, our findings of objective (iii) show that IE participation is able to compensate for low team qualification possibly because the startup is able to find in the IE the teams’ shortcomings. Also, we found that the effect of resourcefulness on overall innovativeness depends on the startups’ IE participation. More specifically, high resourcefulness behavior is able to compensate for low IE participation. The main contributions of this thesis lie in relating startups’ participation in IE and the benefits drawn from this relationship. The results found show that IE are a key element for resource acquisition, to help overcome market contingencies, and to leverage resourcefulness and team qualification to make the most of the internal strengths.Devido à sua complexidade, inovar requer muitos recursos que dificilmente são encontrados nas startups, por essas serem empreendimentos jovens com recursos limitados. Para superar tal dificuldade, as startups contam com atores do ecossistema de inovação (EI) para se beneficiarem de seus recursos. EI refere-se ao ambiente de negócios onde os atores de uma rede social multicamadas interagem para cocriar valor propiciando a inovação de um ator ou de uma população de atores. Portanto, as startups criam vínculos com atores de EI como universidades, incubadoras, fornecedores, entre outros atores para alavancar seus recursos. No entanto, a dinâmica existente no compartilhamento de recursos e como as startups se beneficiam do EI carecem de aprofundamento teórico. Com base nisso, esta tese de doutorado tem como objetivo analisar a dinâmica de gestão da inovação de startups em ecossistemas de inovação. Para tanto, esta tese aborda três objetivos principais de pesquisa: (i) descrever como as startups gerenciam os recursos dos atores de EI ao longo de suas fases de ciclo de vida; (ii) analisar como a interação entre a participação no EI e as contingências de mercado influenciam a inovatividade das startups; e por fim (iii) identificar como a relação entre a inovatividade das startups é afetada pela presença em um EI, pelo comportamento de resourcefulness e pela qualificação da equipe. Para o objetivo de pesquisa (i), foram estudados dez casos de startups de manufatura e realizadas entrevistas com atores do EI. Os resultados mostram que durante a criação, a interação com atores não orientados ao mercado é predominante e as startups se concentram em agrupar recursos de inovação e sociais. Enquanto na fase de desenvolvimento, as interações envolvem uma integração equilibrada de atores orientados e não orientados ao mercado, e as startups se concentram em agregar recursos de inovação, sociais e organizacionais. Por fim, as interações com atores orientados para o mercado são predominantes na fase de mercado, e as startups ainda agregam recursos sociais e de inovação. Com base nos achados, discutimos como o EI ajuda as startups a desenvolver uma estratégia ambidestra de exploration e exploitation e quais capacidades as startups desenvolvem em cada fase do ciclo de vida. Em seguida, para o objetivo de pesquisa (ii), adota-se uma perspectiva de contingência para analisar como a interação entre os fatores de mercado e a participação do ecossistema de inovação influencia a inovação tecnológica e do modelo de negócios das startups. Foram analisados dados de uma pesquisa em larga escala de startups alemãs que mostraram que participar de um EI é especialmente benéfico quando as startups precisam lidar com mercados em rápida mudança, menos previsíveis e de baixo lucro. Já para a inovação do modelo de negócios, o ecossistema de inovação é mais benéfico para startups que precisam lidar com mercados de baixo lucro e mais previsíveis. Por fim, os achados do objetivo (iii) mostram que a participação no EI é capaz de compensar a baixa qualificação da equipe possivelmente porque a startup consegue encontrar no EI formas de superar as deficiências das equipes. Além disso, descobriu-se que o efeito da resourcefulness na inovatividade depende da participação das startups no EI. Mais especificamente, alto nível de resourcefulness é capaz de compensar a baixa participação do EI. As principais contribuições desta tese estão em relacionar a participação das startups no EI e os benefícios advindos dessa relação. Os resultados encontrados mostram que o EI é um elemento chave para a captação de recursos, para ajudar a superar as contingências do mercado e alavancar a resourcefulness com recursos e a qualificação da equipe para aproveitar ao máximo as forças internas

The representation of effectiveness in management : an investigation into knowledge, meaning, and discourse

The thesis investigates the representation of knowledge and meaning in management, with special reference to 'effectiveness' in library and information services. It is argued that management is a socially constructed and negotiated reality in which the meaning of management is the management of meaning. Knowledge paradigms, ideologies, and values form key components of this reality, and operate in a state of change, particularly that arising between 'service' and 'entrepreneurial' models of library management over the last decade. Issues of consensus, hegemony, organisational culture, and learning are investigated with reference to practitioner ('expert') and student ('novice') managers, and to the dialectic between traditional managers ('craftsman managers') and adaptive generalistic managers ('gamesman managers'). The research methodology is based on ethnographic, ideographic, grounded theory, and semio-narrative principles. These are selected as being appropriate and effective interpretative ways of obtaining an understanding of what managers know and know they know, and how they reflect an how they act. It utilises a range of test instruments (including consensus table, scalogram and narrative structure analysis) to elicit knowledge and meaning from representative groups of respondent managers. The central component of this approach is a referential hierarchy. This consists of four major forms of discourse (concepts, propositions, scripts, and stories), in terms of which it is possible for researchers to elicit, and then comprehensively organise and analyse, the main ways in which managers express knowledge and meaning. A model is constructed in which six dimensions of knowledge and meaning receive effective expression through such discourse : the experiential, the teleological, the axiological, the deontic, the epistemic, and the praxiological (acronymically, the PETADE model). it is argued that this approach brings together work hitherto dispersed over a wide variety of disciplines and that it provides an important and useful method of understanding and eliciting the representation of knowledge and meaning in the domain of management

Needing permission : the experience of self-care and self-compassion in nursing

In the National Health Service (NHS) there appears to be a culture of substantial change, with many nurses highlighting the impact of this on their own wellbeing (BPS, 2014). Reports following negative healthcare experiences, such as those reported at Mid Staffordshire (Francis, 2013), led to a number of initiatives emphasising the importance of nurses delivering compassionate care. However, there is a dearth of literature focusing on how nurses care for themselves as they try to provide compassionate care in a challenging job within a climate of constant change. The literature places a focus on the more negative aspects associated with providing care such as compassion fatigue, burnout and vicarious traumatisation, rather than on nurse’s ability to look after themselves through self-care and self-compassion. The purpose of this study is to focus on experiences of self-care and self-compassion in nursing and how these experiences may relate to compassionate care giving. Constructivist Grounded Theory was used, and purposive and theoretical sampling were utilised to recruit nurses working within two NHS Trusts in the UK. Semi structured interviews were undertaken with 30 nurses from general, mental health and learning disabilities and at different levels of seniority. Data analysis was conducted in line with the Constructivist Grounded Theory approach as suggested by Charmaz (2014) and resulted in the emergence and construction of three concepts: 1) ‘Hardwired to be caregivers’ – vocation versus role 2) Needing a stable base and; 3) Managing the emotions of caring. All three concepts were then linked with a core process: needing permission to self-care and be self-compassionate. Nurses needed permission from others and from themselves in order to be self-caring and self-compassionate. An inability to do this appeared to impact upon their own wellbeing and compassionate care giving to others. Nurses in this study described how they struggled particularly with self-compassion. Helping nurses to be proactively more self-caring and self-compassionate may increase their ability to manage emotions and prevent some of the more negative consequences of nursing such as burnout and compassion fatigue. Participants identified that if they had formal permission (e.g. within nursing guidance) to look after themselves then they would be more likely to engage in it and benefit from self-care and self-compassion. Future research within this field is recommended in order to gain an understanding of the effects of self-care and self-compassion initiatives