Information Systems Development @ Internet Speed: A New Paradigm in the Making!

Two studies from 2000-2001 – in U.S. and Denmark – have revealed that the nature of IS development has changed with the coming of Internet Speed. It may not be a revolution, but it is definitely and distinctively different. The new kind of methodology implements amethodical emergent systems development as a new package of practices. Systems are continually growing to adapt to emergent organizations where requirements are fluid, architecture and components are key, and maintenance never rises as a concern

An emergence perspective on entrepreneurship: processes, structure and methodology

This paper explores entrepreneurship from the perspective of emergence, drawing on literature in complexity theory, social theory and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is conceptualised as the production of emergence, or emergent properties, via a simple model of initial conditions, processes of emergence that produces emergent properties at multiple levels (new phenomena such as products, services, firms, networks, patterns of behaviour, identities). Conceptualisation through emergence thus embraces actors, context, processes and (structural) outcomes. This paper builds on previous work that theorises the relationship between entrepreneurship and social change. We extend that work by considering the methodological implications of relating processes of entrepreneurship to the emergence of new phenomena

A Compass in the Woods: Learning Through Grantmaking to Improve Impact

The field of philanthropy is under increasing pressure to produce – and be able to demonstrate – greater impact for its investments. A growing number of foundations are moving away from the traditional responsive banker model to becoming more thoughtful and engaged partners with their grantees in the business of producing outcomes. In the process, they are placing bigger bets on larger, more strategic programs and initiatives.  What the field is striving to do now is to ensure that this evolution is based on validated theory, not wishful thinking or shots in the dark. The larger the investment, the more skilled foundations must become at managing risk – making informed decisions, tracking progress, adjusting action and learning – throughout the life of a program, so that foreseeable and unforeseeable changes do not torpedo an otherwise worthy collective effort. The traditional grant?to?evaluation?to?adjustment cycle is very long. Because many traditional grantmaking practices are proving to be too slow to adapt, these foundations are striving to better integrate real?time evaluation and learning into their operations in order to become more adaptive; more innovative; more impactful.We undertook this research project to inform how the tools and practices that support Emergent   Learning (described in the next section) can best help foundations and their communities – grantees, intermediaries and other stakeholders – improve the way they learn in complex programs and initiatives

Team Learning: A Theoretical Integration and Review

With the increasing emphasis on work teams as the primary architecture of organizational structure, scholars have begun to focus attention on team learning, the processes that support it, and the important outcomes that depend on it. Although the literature addressing learning in teams is broad, it is also messy and fraught with conceptual confusion. This chapter presents a theoretical integration and review. The goal is to organize theory and research on team learning, identify actionable frameworks and findings, and emphasize promising targets for future research. We emphasize three theoretical foci in our examination of team learning, treating it as multilevel (individual and team, not individual or team), dynamic (iterative and progressive; a process not an outcome), and emergent (outcomes of team learning can manifest in different ways over time). The integrative theoretical heuristic distinguishes team learning process theories, supporting emergent states, team knowledge representations, and respective influences on team performance and effectiveness. Promising directions for theory development and research are discussed

Digital technology and governance in transition: The case of the British Library

Comment on the organizational consequences of the new information and communications technologies (ICTs) is pervaded by a powerful imagery of disaggregation and a tendency for ?virtual? forms of production to be seen as synonymous with the ?end? of bureaucracy. This paper questions the underlying assumptions of the ?virtual organization?, highlighting the historically enduring, diversified character of the bureaucratic form. The paper then presents case study findings on the web-based access to information resources now being provided by the British Library (BL). The case study evidence produces two main findings. First, radically decentralised virtual forms of service delivery are heavily dependent on new forms of capacity-building and information aggregation. Second, digital technology is embedded in an inherently contested and contradictory context of institutional change. Current developments in the management and control of digital rights are consistent with the commodification of the public sphere. However, the evidence also suggests that scholarly access to information resources is being significantly influenced by the ?information society? objectives of the BL and other institutional players within the network of UK research libraries

Building a Learning Organization

{Excerpt} A learning organization values the role that learning can play in developing organizational effectiveness. It demonstrates this by having an inspiring vision for learning and a learning strategy that will support the organization in achieving its vision. For organizations wishing to remain relevant and thrive, learning better and faster is critically important. Many organizations apply quick and easy fixes often driven by technology. Most are futile attempts to create organizational change. However, organizational learning is neither possible nor sustainable without understanding what drives it. The figure below shows the subsystems of a learning organization: organization, people, knowledge, and technology. Each subsystem supports the others in magnifying the learning as it permeates across the system

Writing new scripts: redefining managerial agency in Cuba

Transitional societies are faced with particularly challenging and pressing problems. These usually involve the passage from a centralised, socialist-based society, to a decentralised, market-based economy. This paper addresses a somewhat different case: that of Cuba. According to the official discourse, the island is not in a state of transition. On the contrary, it is assumed that the conquests of the revolution are there to stay. Nonetheless, significant changes are taking place. The market logic is being adopted in a growing number of cases, ranging from empresas mixtas to the weak signals of entrepreneurial activity. Drawing on a series of eight focus groups with a total of 106 Cuban executives and management scholars, this paper addresses the uniqueness of the Cuban case on the basis of the theory of structuration. The paper reports how the need to keep the faith is being added with the adoption of Western management practices, and how the interplay between planned and emergent change is sculpting transition through the redefinition of managerial scripts.Cuba, managerial scripts, agency, structuration theory, focus groups

Next Generation Evaluation: Embracing Complexity, Connectivity, and Change

This Learning Brief draws from literature and research, as well as more than a dozen interviews with foundation leaders, evaluation practitioners, and social sector thought leaders, with the intention of starting the conversation in the field around Next Generation Evaluation characteristics and approaches

Improving Care at the End of Life

Reviews RWJF's investments in improving end-of-life care, impact on the field, and lessons learned, including the need to coordinate objectives, integrate strategies, tie strategies to policy changes and incentives, and link communications and evaluation

Web-based information systems development and dynamic organisational change: the need for emergent development tools

This paper considers contextual issues relating to the problem of developing web-based information systems in and for emergent organisations. It postulates that the methods available suffer because of sudden and unexpected changing characteristics within the organisation. The Theory of Deferred Action is used as the basis for the development of an emergent development tool. Many tools for managing change in a continuously changing organisation are susceptible to inadequacy. The insights proposed are believed to assist designers in developing functional and relevant approaches within dynamic organisational contexts